§ Mr. Matthew BanksTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the most recent 391W Council meeting of the Economic and Finance Ministers of the European union. [15854]
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeI represented the United Kingdom at the Economic and Finance Council of the European Union in Brussels on 20 March.
The Council agreed to recommend granting discharge to the Commission for the 1993 Community budget after a discussion on the Court of Auditors" report and in the light of a progress report from the new Commission on proposed improvements in financial management.
The Council adopted draft conclusions on a proposed regulation on the protection of the Community"s financial interests and agreed that rapid progress needed to be made on the matter.
The Council reached political agreement on the draft second VAT simplification directive, agreed on a common position on the trans-European networks financial regulations, and adopted conclusions on the Commission report on the implementation of the money laundering directive, 91/308/EC.
The Council agreed on criteria for future lending to third countries, gave agreement in principle to a Commission proposal for a guarantee on the Community budget for EIB lending to South Africa of 300 mecu over two years, and agreed in principle to a loan to Belarus.
The Council asked the Commission to produce a report on the progress being made by the CEEs on preparation for integration into the internal market in time for discussion prior to the joint meeting between ECOFIN Ministers and associated central and eastern European Finance Ministers scheduled for 22 May.
The Commission presented a communication on the follow-up to the Essen conclusions on employment. The Council decided to discuss the issue further at the informal ECOFIN in early April.
There was unanimous agreement to the TENs financial regulation. No other formal votes were taken.