Question:
82 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Finance if he will report on the recent informal ECOFIN meeting in Portugal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14289/00]
Written Answers. - ECOFIN Council.
The informal meeting of the ECOFIN Council took place on 8 April 2000 in Lisbon. As the Deputy is aware, informal meetings of the council provide Ministers with an opportunity to engage in a general discussion on issues which will feature on the agenda of future formal councils. It is not the practice for such meetings to have formal agenda or to arrive at formal decisions.
The informal was preceded by a meeting of the Euro-11 on 7 April and a meeting of the extended Euro-11 group on 8 April. Discussion at the extended Euro-11 group focused on the tax package and the follow-up to the Lisbon summit.
At the informal ECOFIN meeting itself, Ministers held a discussion on financial services issues on the basis of a report presented by the EFC, which was generally welcomed by Ministers. Ministers also discussed the broad economic policy guidelines, the Commission's spring economic forecasts, which were due to be published in the middle of April, and the quality of public finances. In addition, there was an exchange of views between Ministers on the economic situation in the EU. Ministers also endorsed the text of the EU Presidency speech to the IMF spring meeting and agreed on the principal policy messages contained in the speech.
Over lunch, the Presidency gave a short debriefing on the Euro-11 meeting, and discussion among the Ministers focused on French budgetary proposals, the post of the managing director of the EBRD, the HIPC debt relief initiative, EMU aspects of Intergovernmental Conference, and the question of financial assistance for Montenegro.