§ Mr. ConnartyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 7 May; what the Government's voting record was at the Council; and if he will make a statement. [160972]
§ Mr. Gordon BrownI attended the meeting of the Economic and Finance Council of Ministers with the Paymaster General.
The Commission presented its recommendation for the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs) for 2001. This consists of a section of guidelines addressed to the Community as a whole, and a series of guidelines addressed to individual member states. I made it clear that the Commission had exceeded its remit in proposing a UK-specific guideline that the expected ratio of UK public sector current expenditure to GDP should not exceed 37.3 per cent. Decisions on the level of public spending are for member states, and the Government's fiscal rules ensure sound and sustainable public finances while enabling increased investment in priority public services. The guidelines will now be discussed by officials from the member states and the Commission before ECOFIN presents them to the European Council in Gothenburg and their final adoption by ECOFIN.
A joint Council-Commission delegation will travel to Russia next week to discuss economic co-operation. The presidency reported on its plans to discuss how the EU could best contribute to improving the financial and 284W investment climate in Russia. No decisions would be taken, and the presidency will report back to ECOFIN on the dialogue.
The presidency gave an update on the exchanges of correspondence between the Commission and the European Parliament on the modalities of the Lamfalussy proposals for improving the regulation of the securities market.
The Economic Policy Committee chairman set out the committee's work programme for the coming year. This includes UK-inspired work on how economic incentives contribute to promoting R&D. The Committee will report back on this to ECOFIN in the autumn.
Ministers agreed that further work was required on prudential regulation of supplementary pensions. Conclusions were also adopted on e-commerce and financial services.
The Commission gave advance notice of the preliminary draft Community budget for 2002, which was subsequently adopted by the Commission on 8 May.
The Commission presented its communication on the elimination of tax obstacles to the cross-border provision of occupational pensions, which advocates exchange of information and Sharing best practice as solutions to double or non-taxation of cross-border pensions. Ministers agreed that the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the member states and a technical working group should undertake a more detailed study of the communication.
No votes were taken during the course of the meeting.