§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what matters were discussed and what decisions taken at the EU Ministerial Council on the Internal Market on 6 June; and what matters were voted upon. [26737]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 7 June 1995]: I attended the Internal Market Council in Luxembourg on 6 June.
The Council agreed a satisfactory resolution on the effective application of Community law and penalties for breach of Community law provisions in the internal market field; a common position on the decision on notification of derogations from free movement of goods; and political agreement on the directive on legal protection of databases. There was no agreement on a common position on the novel foods and novel food ingredients regulation, as Germany, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Greece voted against.
The Council discussed the Commission's White Paper on the preparation of the associated countries of central and eastern Europe for integration into the EU's internal market. It also held a joint meeting with internal market Ministers from those countries. There was also a debate on improving the work and operation of the single market. This followed Commissioner Monti's outline of the Commission's forthcoming 1994 annual report on the single market.
I presented a new study by the DTI, reporting on a survey of 250 businesses and 100 trade associations.
The Council discussed the work of the Molitor group, set up to examine the impact of European Community and national legislation on employment and competitiveness; 176W Customs 2000 action programme; and the draft convention on insolvency proceedings.
The next meeting of the Council is provisionally scheduled for Monday 9 October 1995.