Vol. 544 No. 3
406 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the reason she did not attend the European Union informal Council of Culture Ministers on 20 and 22 July 1999; the public engagement she undertook that day which necessitated her absence; and the agenda and outcome of the Council of Ministers meeting of 20 and 22 July 1999. [28813/01]
Contrary to the assertion in the Deputy's question, I attended the informal Council of Ministers meeting held under the auspices of the Finnish Presidency from 18 to 20 July 1999.
Informal meetings of Ministers are hosted by the member state holding the Presidency of the European Union. These meetings provide the opportunity for political debate on various issues identified by the Presidency as being of particular importance. The Finnish Presidency identified four areas for informal discussions at the meeting in question: cultural industry and employment, development of co-operation in the field of music, European content production and distribution in the new media environment and culture and audiovisual services in the GATS 2000 Round.
There are no decisions taken or formal outcomes to informal Council meetings.
