HC Deb 17 July 1980 vol 988 cc684-5W
Mr. Richard Shepherd

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the meeting of the European Community Finance Council in Brussels on 15 July.

Mr. Peter Rees

The Finance Council met under Luxembourg Presidency.

The Council discussed the economic situation in the Community on the basis of a paper by the Commission. This enabled members of the Council to outline the latest economic developments in their countries. The Council agreed that there was no need to modify the overall guidelines for 1980 that it had established at its meeting in December 1979.

The Council considered the Commission's proposals for a second tranche of the Ortoli loan facility. It agreed that further loans totalling 400 million European units of account (about £240 million) should be made available immediately covering the same range of projects as the first tranche. The Council will discuss in October the possibility of allocating a further 100 million European units of account (about £60 million) to a wider range of energy and infrastructure projects.