HC Deb 14 March 1990 vol 169 cc293-4W
30. Mr. Nicholas Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the most recent meeting of the EEC Internal Market Council.

39. Mr. Murphy

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the most recent meeting of the EEC Internal Market Council.

Mr. Redwood

The most recent meeting of the Internal Market Council was held on 22 February 1990. The Council reached a satisfactory agreement on the main agenda item: a directive on public procurement in the water, transport, telecommunications and energy sectors. This represents an important step towards the liberalisation of public procurement in the Community. The Council also received a progress report from the Commission on further work in this area.

The Council also agreed a timetable for future work towards liberalisation of the insurance market in the Community, and discussed amendments to the fourth and seventh company law directives.

This was a satisfactory first Council under the Irish presidency, which maintains the momentum on the single market.