§ Mr. Rentonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the meeting of the European Community Finance Council in Brussels on 15 March.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweThe main item of business was further consideration of the European monetary system. The Council agreed to report to the European Council that the EMS had worked well; that greater convergence and coordination of economic policy were vital to the system's future; and that a number of technical improvements had been agreed or proposed, on which further work would be done before the May Finance Council.
The Council also touched on Japanese macro-economic policy, which it will discuss further at future meetings.
The Council adopted two loan proposals. The first was an increase in the ceiling for Euratom lending for nuclear power stations. The second was a decision to authorise a further 1 billion ecu of lending under the new Community instrument. This was adopted after a conciliation meeting with a delegation from the European Parliament.
Finally, the Council adopted economic guidelines for Greece and took note of the Commission's quarterly economic report.