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Treasury

Answer

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 10 July; what the Government's voting record was at the Council; and if he will make a statement. [6348] Mr. Gordon Brown: The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and I attended the meeting of the Economic and Finance Council of Ministers. The Presidency set out its work programme and stressed the importance it attached to economic policy co-ordination, the introduction of euro notes and coins, and structural reform. I made a strong appeal for the EU to be outward-looking and reformist: the priority must be to step up the momentum of structural economic reform in product, capital and labour markets rather than, for example tax harmonisation or a new eurotax. I called for progress in areas such as R&D spending, community patent, and launching a new trade round. I also called on the EU to maximise the impact of its development programmes, and emphasised the importance of the Global Health Fund. The Council discussed taking forward the mandates from the Gothenburg European Council. The Chair of the Economic Policy Committee set out how the EPC and other committees would take on relevant aspects of the work regarding pension reform and sustainable development. ECOFIN endorsed the Economic and Financial Committee's report and revised Code of Conduct on the assessment of Stability and Convergence Programmes. The Commission presented its Communication on future tax policy. No conclusions were drawn, but I stated that ECOFIN's priorities should be completing the Tax Package involving exchange of information on savings income and reaching an appropriate long-term solution to VAT on e-commerce; and made clear that fair tax competition should be encouraged. ECOFIN adopted a timetable for the Tax Package. No votes were taken in the course of the meeting.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

6348; 372 c383-4W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

EU action Economic and monetary union EU economic policy Public expenditure Taxation EC Finance Council

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk