§ Mr. Ancramasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the meeting of the European Community Finance Council in Brussels on 17 March.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweThe Finance Council met on 17 March with the Luxembourg Finance Minister in the chair.
The Council discussed preparations for the forthcoming European Council. I stressed that it was imperative for the 372W Community to resolve the problem of the British budget contribution as soon as possible and argued that no technical obstacle stood in the way of an early decision. No one disputed this view.
The Council also carried out its regular quarterly review of the economic situation in the Community on the basis of a communication from the Commission. It endorsed the Commission's conclusion that there was for the present no need to revise the economic guidelines that it had adopted at its December meeting.
The Council also considered a document prepared by the Commission at the request of the European Council on the improvement of economic policy coordination in the Community. It endorsed in general terms the ideas put forward in the document and invited the various specialist committees concerned to take such steps as were necessary in the light of the Commission's proposals to reinforce the co-ordination of economic policies.