§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will make a statement about the meeting of Finance Ministers of the European Community held on 20th February.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe EEC Finance Council met under Danish Presidency in Brussels on 21st November.
The Council held an informal discussion of the economic situation. It asked the Commission to prepare a paper for a further discussion of this topic at the Finance Council on 20th March, which in turn will prepare for discussions at the European Council on 6th-7th April.
The Council discussed a draft decision empowering the Commission to make loans for the purpose of promoting investment within the Community. The Council requested the competent bodies to examine further the technical aspects of the proposal and to report back to it when the European Assembly has given its opinion on the proposal.
The Council took note of a statement by the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs on a Commission communication on the economic and monetary action programme for 1978 (R/415/78) and requested the appropriate committees to prepare a report on the proposals in the document, prior to further discussion.