12-13 January Economic and Financial Committee

AT ITS inaugural meeting, the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) formally elected its first chairman. Jean Lemierre, director-general of the French treasury, was appointed by the 34 members of the committee for a two-year term. He had been pitted against Italian treasury director Mario Draghi, but won support for his candidacy from the German and Italian governments last month. The EFC has assumed the powers of the EU's monetary committee, which was abolished on 1 January.