The Eurogroup is an informal body where the finance ministers of the eurozone discuss matters relating to their shared responsibilities related to the euro. The group was initially created in 1998 as a forum for discussing issues related to monetary policy, but it has since evolved into a more general discussion forum on eurozone affairs. The Eurogroup meets regularly and its decisions are generally reached by consensus.The current president of the Eurogroup is Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who also serves as Minister of Finance for the Netherlands. He took over from Jean-Claude Juncker in January 2013. One of Dijsselbloem's main goals as president has been to increase transparency and accountability within the group. In order to achieve this, he has introduced regular press conferences following meetings and started publishing meeting minutes online.The Eurogroup is an important institution because it allows finance ministers from different countries with different backgrounds and ideologies to come together and discuss issues relevant to the eurozone as a whole. By reaching decisions by consensus, members are able to find compromises that benefit all parties involved. This makes it possible for difficult decisions affecting all members of the eurozone (such as bailout programmes) can be made without having unanimous support among all nineteen countries involved.