They were extremely guarded about the exact nature of their discussions last night, however, as a wall of silence went up around the conclave that assembled at the same time as their eurozone colleagues.
Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek invited his nine non-euro colleagues to meet in an undisclosed Brussels hotel for their second such meeting as a caucus.
The first took place during the last meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg, under the tutelage of the Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg.
Diplomats confirmed that junior advisors met simultaneously at the Czech Embassy in Brussels to discuss the same issues as their ministers.
Well fed, but tight-lipped
But diplomats remained tight-lipped in respect of the exact nature of the discussions.
One told EurActiv that the meeting was designed to prepare for today’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) meeting, which gathers the EU's 27 finance ministers, but also to discuss the outcome of the G20 summit in Cannes last week.
Another diplomat said that the dinner would address the “governance issues”, left lying on the table following the last EU Brussels summit, including the issue of treaty change to enable hardening of eurozone and the potential for a new ministry or commissioner for the euro in Brussels.
“We cannot afford to be left in an inferior second-stream,” he said.
Another diplomat said that although such meetings were likely to recur, there was no attempt to make them official. He said: “There are still too many issues that divide us. This is very much about discussing what our priorities are, and seeking common ground.”
Others were extremely cautious, refusing to comment at all. “We are invited to dinners all the time, this is just another of those,” said one.
Another diplomat refused to rule out the possibility that such meetings could in future be convened on an ad-hoc basis, rather than in the shadow of the Ecofin.
