Brussels, 30/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - In the last ministerial meeting of the outgoing Italian Presidency, the Council of the EU adopted or approved without debate on 22 December several decisions, which will therefore no longer need to be passed on to the Irish Presidency.
The following were adopted: the amendments adopted by the European Parliament on takeover bids (the Commission had said it could not agree to the text, but it will be formally adopted now following finalisation by legal/linguistic experts); the directive amending Directive 90/435/EEC on the common taxation system for Member States' companies with subsidiaries in different countries and for other companies having cross-border activities within the EU; agreements confirming the unanimous Council agreement to amend Directive 77/388/EEC on reduced VAT for highly labour intensive services to extend the period in which certain Member States can apply reduced VAT for a further two years; the decision authorising the UK to apply derogations to European tax legislation; the decision to launch consultations with Guinea Bissau under Article 96 of the Cotonou Accord (prior political dialogue ahead of partial or full suspension of cooperation with this ACP country following September's coup d'etat, not supported by the Commission); the decision to sign on behalf of the European Community and the European Atomic Energy Community the scientific and economic co-operation agreement between the European Communities and Switzerland (which will provisionally come into force on 1 January 2004 while the ratification procedures for its full coming into force are ratifies); the decision to sign a scientific and technological co-operation agreement between the EU and Morocco and between the EU and Tunisia; the decision approving the agreement between the EU and Morocco on mutual liberalisation measures and replacing the protocols to the EU-Morocco Association Agreement on imports of Moroccan farm products into the EU; agreements on ultra-peripheral regions, recommending the continuation of agreements on the special tax scheme for products from ultra-peripheral regions that applies in the Outre Mer regions of France from 1 January 2004 to 30 June 2004, leaving time to examine the Commission proposal on the review of these agreements; the decision to appoint for five years Peter Johan Hustinx as European Data Protection Supervisor and Joaquim Bayo Delgado as Deputy Supervisor; conclusions on operational co-operation between Member States with regard to immigration, stressing the need to step up mutual support and aid to implement return of deported illegal immigrants to third countries by means of short-term transit by sea or by land through another Member State; a report on terrorist activity in the EU between October 2002 and October 2003 (the report has been submitted to the European Parliament); a resolution on strengthening co-operation in terms of research into civil protection, inviting the Commission and Member States to take advantage of the options provided in the sixth framework research and development programme to encourage the development of research programmes on the reduction of natural and technological risks and reducing the impact of resulting disasters.