§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting of the intergovernmental conference on economic: and monetary union on 25 November.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI attended a meeting of the intergovernmental conference on economic and monetary union on 24–25 November. Four main issues were discussed: the role of the Commission and the European Council in EMU, exchange rate policy in stage 3, the procedure for investigating member states' budget deficits, and the transitional provisions in the draft statute of the European system of central banks.
On institutional issues, I argued that the treaty provisions should be considered on a case-by-case basis to achieve a workable solution; the Commission should not always have the exclusive right of proposal of legislation.
The discussion of exchange rate policy was brief and the issue was remitted to personal representatives for further work.
In the discussion of the procedure for investigating budget deficits I argued that market forces and Council recommendations were the most appropriate discipline on member states and that the procedure should be concerned only with gross errors of budgetary policy. On the transitional provisions in the draft statute, the conference discussed a number of issues concerning the arrangements for non-participants in stage 3.
694WIn a discussion of the Soviet Union, I argued for the earliest possible disbursement of the Community's food credits to meet genuine humanitarian needs. Agreement was reached on the mandate for the Commission's negotiations with the Soviet Union on the 500 mecu loan already agreed by the Community.