§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement614W on the progress made under the United Kingdom presidency of the EU of the Single Market Action Plan by number of targets achieved; and how many targets were met during each other presidency. [81226]
§ Mr. ByersI have been asked to reply.
The Single Market Action Plan, which was endorsed by the European Council in Amsterdam in June 1997, set an ambitious 18-month programme in the run-up to the introduction of the euro. Regular reports on the implementation of the Action Plan have been provided at six-monthly intervals by the Single Market Scoreboard. Three such Scoreboards were published during the lifetime of the Action Plan, during the Luxembourg, UK and Austrian Presidencies. It is clear that good progress has been made in implementing the measures contained in the Action Plan, as the Commission reports in its Communication assessing the Action Plan (COM(1999)74 Final of 18 February), and the UK Presidency played no small part in contributing to that success.