Copenhagen, 28/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Danish finance minister Thor Pedersen (who will be chairing the ECOFIN Council from 1 July onwards) said on Thursday that one of the main priorities of the Danish Presidency of the EU would be to reach agreement on the tax package by the end of the year. The biggest challenge in this connection would be to get agreement on a savings tax based on an exchange of information, Pedersen told a group of European reporters and that the Danish objective was to set up an information exchange system with Switzerland, the United States and other non-EU countries. He said that this was the best approach to take to prevent tax evasion but also to combat the funding of terrorism. Negotiations with countries outside the EU are difficult but I remain optimistic that we will be able to find a solution based on an information exchange system, he said.
One priority under the Danish Presidency will be getting the energy tax directive adopted (a necessary measure to accompany the opening up of the energy markets, explained Pedersen). Another priority will be to co-ordinate economic policies and improve working methods in this domain since better co-ordination will strengthen the EU's capacity to face up to a number of challenges currently facing us, such as the challenge to create more jobs and assure a high level of prosperity and well-being for the EU's ageing population, explained Pedersen. With this in mind, the Danish Presidency is considering streamlining procedures for co-ordinating the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPG) and the European Employment Strategy.
On the Stability Pact, Pedersen said that it played an essential role in maintaining confidence in the euro and said there was no way that discussions would be held under the Danish Presidency to water it down or be more flexible in terms of how the rules of the Pact are interpreted. The Danish finance minister repeated his government's desire to join the eurozone as soon as possible, but any such decision would be subject to a new referendum "in due time", he explained. In an initial referendum in September 2000, the Danes decided against Denmark joining the euro, and Pedersen said it would be premature at this stage to say when a second referendum might take place.