§ Mr. HindTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the latest meeting of the European Community's Economic and Finance Council.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe ECOFIN Council met in Brussels on 10 December. I represented the United Kingdom.
Discussion focused on the economic situation in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, and the response that the Community might make towards assisting their progress towards developing market economies and appropriate adjustment programmes. There was discussion of the possible methods of providing such assistance to the Soviet Union, in particular technical assistance, and the most appropriate Community response to the problems of food distribution, as preparation for the European Council.
The Council also discussed the question of G24 financial assistance for the countries of eastern Europe. It agreed that it was important that any such assistance should be in support of IMF programmes with appropriate conditionality and that contributions should be obtained from countries outside the EC.
It was agreed that a proposal to disburse the second tranche of the $1 billion medium-term loan to Hungary, agreed earlier this year, should be referred to the 17 December ECOFIN Council for decision.