§ Mr. Matthew BanksTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the recent Council meeting of the Economic and Finance Ministers of the European Union. [13994]
§ Mr. OppenheimOn 27 January, I attended the Economic and Finance Council of the European Union in Brussels on behalf of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Council discussed the Dutch Presidency's work programme for ECOFIN. This emphasised the need for budget discipline in the Community, co-operation to tackle unemployment and implement structural reform and measures to combat fraud.
335WOver lunch, the Council held a structured dialogue with Ministers from central and eastern European countries. The discussion focused on the need to adopt medium-term budgetary frameworks in these associated countries and invited Ministers from them to share their experiences of tackling budgetary consolidation.
External lending mandates and guarantees for the European investment bank were discussed and a possible basis for agreement identified. However, no final decisions were taken as this is subject to a UK parliamentary scrutiny reserve.
The Commission reported that it would shortly be announcing the jury to shortlist designs for the common side of euro coins. The final design for the coins will be discussed again at a future ECOFIN meeting.
The Commission also agreed to produce formal proposals for lending to the Ukraine and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. These will also be discussed at a later meeting of the Council.