The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) is one of the oldest configurations of the Council of the European Union and is composed of the Economics and Finance Ministers of the 27 European Union member states, as well as Budget Ministers when budgetary issues are discussed.

ECOFIN often works with the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs and the President of the European Central Bank.

The Council covers a number of EU policy areas, such as economic policy coordination, economic surveillance, monitoring of Member States' budgetary policy and public finances, the euro (legal, practical and international aspects), financial markets and capital movements and economic relations with third countries. It also prepares and adopts every year, together with the European Parliament, the budget of the European Union which is about €100 bn.

The council meets once a month and decides mainly by qualified majority, in consultation or codecision with the European Parliament, with the exception of fiscal matters which are decided by unanimity. When the Ecofin Council examines dossiers related to the euro and EMU, the representatives of the Member States whose currency is not the euro do not take part in the vote of the Council.

Margrethe Vestager (born 13 April 1968 in Glostrup) is a Danish politician representing the Social-liberal Det Radikale Venstre. She has been a Member of Parliament (Folketinget) since 20 November 2001. On 15 June 2007 she was appointed parliamentary group leader of her party, replacing Marianne Jelved. On October 3, 2011, she became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic and Interior Affairs under the government of Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

Yannis Stournaras (Greek: Γιάννης Στουρνάρας, born in Athens, Greece on 10 December 1956), is a Greek economist who has been the designated Greek Minister of Finance since June 26, 2012.

Stournaras is a graduate of the Finance Faculty of the University of Athens, and has an MSc and PhD in Economics Theory and Policy from Oxford University. Since 1989 he has taught Macroeconomics and Economic Policy at the University of Athens, and has worked as a financial advisor to the Greek Ministry of Finance, participating in the negotiations for Greece's entry into the European Monetary Union.