Skip to main content
Normal View

European Council Meetings.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 March 2004

Tuesday, 23 March 2004

Questions (47)

Mary Upton

Question:

33 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the outcome of the ECOFIN council held in Brussels on 9 March 2004. [8923/04]

View answer

Written answers

On 9 March, I chaired a meeting of the ECOFIN Council in Brussels. The Council adopted the key issues paper, which sets out in a clear fashion the priorities that ECOFIN would like to see tackled by the European Council later this week. The Council also adopted conclusions on national contributions to the European Growth Initiative. The stability programmes of Belgium, Germany, Spain and Portugal were examined and opinions for each of the four member states were approved.

The ECOFIN Council heard reports on the state of play in the negotiation of saving tax agreements with UK and Dutch dependent territories and in the Commission's negotiations with European third countries. In this context, the Council also indicated that it was favourably disposed to a Commission recommendation proposing a framework for the negotiation of a monetary agreement with Andorra. On the issue of reduced VAT rates, a brief exchange of views was held at the request of the French delegation.

With regard to the European Community budget, ECOFIN recommended that discharge be given to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Communities for 2002. The Council also agreed on the priorities that it would like to see reflected in the 2005 Community budget. There was a brief discussion on the budgetary classification of funded pension schemes.

The discussion over lunch covered the upcoming vacancies on the European Central Bank's executive board and at the International Monetary Fund, the establishment of a European centre for international economics and the need to have informal exchanges of views about some of the longer-term economic and strategic challenges facing the Union in the years ahead.

Prior to the Council meeting, I also chaired a breakfast meeting where Ministers discussed the impact of regulation on economic performance and the possibilities of reducing the administrative burden on enterprises.

Top
Share