Vol. 536 No. 4
24 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Finance the Government's view of the new round of economic guidelines for member states published by the European Commission; the discussions he plans to have with the Commission regarding the guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14222/01]
On April 25, the European Commission published its proposals for the 2001 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines. The guidelines cover a number of areas, including fiscal policy, reform of product and capital markets and labour markets. This was essentially the first draft of the 2001 guidelines.
As in previous years, the final version of the guidelines may be different from the initial Commission proposal and Ireland, like many other member states, will propose some rewording of the Commission's draft guidelines.
The Commission proposals for the 2001 guidelines are being discussed by officials in a number of EU Committees – the Economic and Financial Committee and the Economic Policy Committee. They will be discussed by the Council of Finance Ministers, ECOFIN, early in June and then it is expected that they will be submitted to heads of state and government.
Questions Nos. 25 and 26 answered with Question No. 8.
