The Task Force on economic governance, chaired by the President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy, met for the first time on 21 May. Agreement was reached on four main objectives and on the direction in which the group would move forward for each of them.

Following the path of other measures for financial crisis resolution, and prevention for a new one in the future, the Task Force for Economic Governance met for the first time in Brussels. Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, said that it had been a very useful meeting, and that he had felt a sense of urgency and a spirit of cooperation around the table.

The key objectives on which all participants agreed were:

• Achieving greater budgetary discipline
• Finding means to reduce competitiveness divergence between the EU member states
• Having a permanent crisis resolution mechanism
• Strengthening economic governance in institutional terms.

The Task Force was established by the March 2010 European Council to improve crisis resolution and budgetary discipline. In the same Council, Europe 2020 strategy for economic growth and employment was adopted, and Member States were called for a better coordination to tackle the crisis. Chaired by Herman Van Rompuy, the Task Force consists of representatives of all 27 member states - mostly ministers of finance - plus Commissioner Olli Rehn, President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet and President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker.

A final report will be presented to the European Council in October. At the press conference, Herman Van Rompuy pointed out: "Our final agreement should result in stronger economic cohesion within the Union. This is vital for 27 countries with a common internal market and for a zone of 16 countries sharing a single currency."