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Treasury

Answer

Mr. Caplin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the outcome of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 12 July; and if he will make a statement. [91824] Mr. Jim Marshall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the outcome of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 14 July; and if he will make a statement. [91849] Ms Hewitt: The programme for the Finnish Presidency was discussed in open debate and given a broad welcome. There was discussion of economic and financial issues arising in the draft common strategy for Ukraine. There was a discussion of the economic and financial aspects of the crises in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. A mandate for the Presidency for the 13 July High Level group was agreed. There was general endorsement of the key elements of a Presidency proposal on the guarantee from the Community Budget for EIB loans to third countries. A technical report on the provision of statistics in the euro area was agreed and published. Two presidency reports on the implementation of OLAF (the European Anti-Fraud Office) and the appointment of a supervisory Committee were considered. Following slight amendment, the Reports were approved. The Commission made a brief presentation of the draft decision on Own Resources, adopted by the Commission last week. The Presidency said it would proceed swiftly to a more detailed examination by the Council. With regard to VAT on labour intensive services, Coreper was asked to reach agreement on a list of such services in time for agreement on the proposal at ECOFIN on 8 October.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

91824; 335 c364W;335 c366W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Economic situation EU action EU economic policy VAT Kosovo Ukraine EU aid Own resources EC Finance Council