§ Mr. Roweasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the meeting of the European Community Economic and Finance Council in Brussels on 11 March.
§ Mr. Ian StewartThe Council of Economic and Finance Ministers met in Brussels on 11 March. I represented the United Kingdom. This was the first occasion on which the ECOFIN Council has implemented the budgetary discipline procedures and at which the Court of Auditors report has been discussed.
Following the Council's discussion of future financial provision for the European agricultural guidance fund, it formally adopted an opinion, in accordance with the arrangements laid down on budgetary discipline, that the total amount to be made available for expenditure commitments to be charged to the guidance fund for the next five years should be limited to 5,250 million ecus. The 5,250 mecus figure agreed is substantially lower than the figure of 5,716 mecus requested by the Commission in February and than their original proposal of 5,900 mecus. This figure is without prejudice to any decisions which may subsequently be taken on the Commission's proposals for integrated Mediterranean programmes. The Council reviewed the economic situation and decided to make no changes to the economic policy guidelines agreed in December 1984.
At the request of the United Kingdom the Council discussed the report of the Court of Auditors on the execution of the Community Budget for 1983. The Council agreed that further work was needed on the deficiencies identified in the Court's report, in particular the excessive build-up of unused payment appropriations and of unused commitments, the need for improved monitoring and control of FEOGA guarantee and for more rapid disbursement of food aid. The Council invited the Committee of Permanent Representatives to consider the necessary follow-up action and to report back to a subsequent meeting of the Finance or Budget Council.
The Council discussed the draft 20th VAT directive, permitting the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to give special aid to its farmers as agreed at Fontainebleau. The Council decided to ask the European Parliament to give its opinion on the draft directive as a matter of urgency and to continue its own work on the subject.
258WThe Commission notified the Council of its request for a new negotiating mandate on mixed credits in preparation for negotiations in the OECD. Nine Member States, including the United Kingdom, supported the Commission's request, which will be further discussed at the General Affairs Council on 17–19 March.