Brussels, 06/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - The EU Member State Ministers for Economy and Finance are to meet on Tuesday in Luxembourg from 9h30 under the chairmanship of Giulio Tremonti, of Italy, to take stock of the initiative intended to rekindle growth in Europe, seek to obtain a political agreement on the proposal on investment services and assess the prospects for evolution of the dossier on the list of services that would benefit from VAT reductions. The meeting is expected to end around 13h00 and there is therefore no working lunch scheduled.
The main points on the agenda of the Ecofin Council are:
Growth initiative. Ministers will adopt an interim report prepared by the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) on the European growth initiative to be forwarded to the European Council in Brussels on 16 and 17 October. The report takes up the key elements of the European Commission's document adopted on 1 October (EUROPE of 2 October, p.5). The Commission will take into account the Council debate on the different elements of this initiative when drafting its report in November on this theme.
Open coordination in the field of social protection. The Council will adopt an opinion of the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) on the subject of the communication of 27 May 2003 on strengthening the social dimension of the Lisbon strategy. The EPC welcomes the Commission's resolve to strengthen open coordination in the field of social welfare, but is concerned about the risks of producing policies that are not clear and increasing the number of reports forwarded by Member States in this field (it is requested that reports "be as concise as possible"). The EPC considers these ideas should not entail twice as much work with the different processes in progress (programme for stability and convergence and European employment strategy …).
Investment Services Directive. After the opinion of the European Parliament (EUROPE of 26 September 2003, p.10), the Council hopes to reach a political agreement on the proposal of directive (dating from November 2002) on investment services, even if some questions remain outstanding on the subject of Article 25 on pre-negotiation price transparency. The Presidency drafted a compromise text mainly providing for small investors to be treated differently from large or professional investors. The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the EU (Coreper) confirmed on Monday the various positions taken by the delegations on the subject of this Article 25. On one hand, a group of countries headed by the United Kingdom, which also includes Sweden, does not wish for retail operators to be subject to too many transparency obligations towards clients in the future. Another camp, mainly composed of France and Germany, does not, on the contrary, want clear obligations concerning transparency for these operators.
Taxation applicable to subsidiaries and parent companies. The Council is expected to reach political guidelines concerning this proposal of directive presented in August (see EUROPE of 8 August, p.2). The relevant Council working group made progress on this issue although some technical elements of the text have still to be finalised. The results of the Council debate will guide the relevant working group in continuing its work.
List of services that will benefit from VAT reductions. After the differences expressed during the informal meeting in Stresa (EUROPE of 16 September 2003, p.7), the Council should be pleased to take stock of the prospects for an agreement on this proposal. The Italian Presidency pointed out on Monday that there was at least an agreement on extending the scope of this proposal of directive. "We are at the stage of the policy debate, and decisions are not expected until November or December", it is said at the Commission. We recall that some delegations do not agree to extending Appendix H whereas others hope to maintain their derogations. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Finland and Portugal hope to maintain their exemptions concerning the zero rates, the "super reduced" rates and the "parking" rates. Germany, Sweden and Denmark support the Commission's proposal aimed at doing away with these rates for goods and services not appearing in Appendix H.