Brussels, 29/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The EcoFin Council, chaired by Laurent Fabius on Friday (Commission President Romano Prodi took part over lunch), was dominated by the oil issue. Mr. Fabius highlighted the following points:
- the Fifteen are in total agreement to confirm that a general reduction on the tax on petrol would not be the appropriate response. "It would risk being costly and would be completely illusory", even "counterproductive". Other than specific and provisional decisions taken by certain Member States, the "general thrust has therefore been confirmed: It's no", Fabius concluded.
- finance ministers "took note with pleasure the Commission's intention of publishing a Communication as early as next week that will deal with subjects linked to oil". In this perspective, the Fifteen "unanimously insisted" on the "full respect of competition" and on the "need for energy saving policies and energy diversification";
- there was "general agreement" - and, according to Fabius, "this is one of the most important points of the debate" - to "develop a long-term dialogue between oil consumer and producer countries", with the aim of reaching a price level that is "reasonable". This dialogue, he stipulated, should be envisaged not only for periods when prices are too high (which remains the case as they remain above the 22 to 28 dollar a barrel mark put forward by Opec) but "also when prices are too low". And Mr. Fabius then stipulated that if the Fifteen wanted a "long-term dialogue, it is because they want stability".
- regarding the strategic reserves and their possible use, "the Commission has been asked to study this issue further", the Fifteen agreeing on the fact that this subject should be integrated in their discussions and "ruling out no decision for the future". Fabius acknowledged that different points of views had been expressed, explaining: "The exchange of views took place. Each Member State and the Commission will now reflect", without deadline for this reflection.
Regarding the possible economic consequences of the oil crisis, Pedro Solbes said that this issue had been the subject of a specific debate on Friday and that the Commission thought that although petrol would have a "certain effect on growth", the latter should nevertheless remain at 3.5% this year and higher than 3% in 2001.
