Luxembourg, 16/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the Ecofin Council took stock of the measures being prepared to combat the financing of terrorism. It stressed its determination to continue the exchange of information, not only between Member States but also on the international scene. Under pressure from Fritz Bolkestein, the Council undertook to do everything possible to achieve adoption of the proposal of directive on "market abuse".
The Council announced that it would be "very actively" involved in the preparation of the next meetings of the OECD (FATF) financial action group in Washington on 29 and 30 October, seeking to define a common position on the means to strengthen the fight against the funding of terrorism. Didier Reynders also pointed out that the ministers had already strengthened cooperation between the financial intelligence units of Member States. During the first meetings held on such matters, the EU countries undertook to set in place more effective information exchange circuits, mainly for coordinating application of international decisions on the freezing of Taliban assets.
During the Council, Mr Bolkestein urged Member States to reach a political agreement before the end of the year on the directive concerning market abuse which, he recalled, must replace that of 1989 so that "all kinds of markets, whether regulated or not" are covered. The Member States should set up "independent authorities" responsible for managing market abuse and take action against such abuse, and exchange information among themselves. This proposal would make it possible to increase the confidence of investors and counter the attempts of terrorists aimed at mobilising funds by artificially manipulating financial markets. In this context, the Presidency presented a report from the Committee of European Securities Regulators on market manipulation that could have occurred at the time of the attacks, without, however, providing any formal proof of abuse at this stage.
The other points discussed by the Ecofin Council were:
Globalisation and development: The Council approved the proposal by the Economic and Financial Committee (ECF) on the characteristics of the report that the Commission is to make (see EUROPE of 13 October, p.8). The Commission has until the month of February 2002. One month later discussions on development financing will open under the aegis of the UN.
Employment package: The Council held a political debate on the "employment package" on the basis of an oral report by the Chairman of the Economic Policy Committee (EPC), drawing attention to: - the more or less compulsory nature of establishing employment objectives; - the need to use the notion "quality of work" with great caution in guidelines, so as not to give the impresssion that the Member States are compelled to regulate on the matter.