Brussels, 06/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On 10 July, the Ecofin Council will be held under the chairmanship of Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders. The traditional public debate on the Presidency's work programme will, for the first time, allow the gathering of European Finance Ministers to express views on the creation of a "European tax". Other than the adoption of the timetable for work on the "tax package", no decision is expected to come out of this first Ecofin Council under Belgian Presidency.
Presidency's work programme. The public debate will be held between 10h00 and midday. Didier Reynders has proposed that his counterparts should focus on three issues: 1) strengthening of coordination of economic policies; 2) progress made in work on the statute of the European company; 3) direct financing of part of the European budget, "without increasing overall taxation pressure" (see declarations by Guy Verhofstadt on this subject in EUROPE of 5 July, p.5, and in EUROPE/Documents published today).
European Union taxation policy. Commissioner Frits Bolkestein will present his communication on the future of EU taxation policy, adopted on 23 May by the Commission. The communication recommends greater coordination of Member State tax policies, while urging for a "reasonable degree of taxation competition" in the EU. No doubt prefiguring the debates that will open in Council, the French, German, Spanish and Danish Commissioners were opposed to this reference to "taxation competition". The British, Irish and Swedish, on the other hand, supported Mr Bolkestein's position (see EUROPE of 24 May, p.6, for details). "Some delegations may express their position, but it is not the Presidency's intention to hold a full debate at this stage", said the Presidency.
Timetable for taxation package. The Council should adopt its work programme in order to reach agreements on the different elements of the "tax package" before end 2002, according to the objectives defined during the summits of Feira, Nice and Stockholm. According to Presidency indications, the ministers should evoke in this context the question of the negotiating briefs that they should give the Commission in October so that it may negotiate agreements on savings tax with Switzerland first of all, but also with the United States, Monaco, Andorra, Liechtenstein and Saint-Marin. We recall that Luxembourg makes its support of the directive on savings tax contingent upon the conclusion of such agreements. The tax package is composed of: 1) the directive on taxation of savings interests of non-residents; 2) the code of conduct on company tax; 3) the directive on taxation of interests and payments made between associate firms.
Follow-up of the European Council of Gothenburg. The Presidency will give indications to the Council on how it plans to raise the challenge of an ageing population, in compliance with the Gothenburg conclusions. According to the open method of coordination and on the basis of a joint report by the Social Protection Committee and the Economic Policy Committee, the Council must: - draw up a report on the state of progress of work for the European Council of Laeken, based on the European Commission's communication fixing the objectives and the methods of work to be used in the retirement area; - establish a first report for the European Council in spring 2002 (in Barcelona), containing guidelines on health care and general care for older persons. The results of this work will be integrated into the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines.
Stability and convergence programmes. The Council must adopt a report from the Economic and Finance Committee proposing avenues for reflection in order to improve the assessment of stability and convergence programmes. Ministers must also adopt an opinion on the "code of conduct" concerning the content and the format of these programmes.