Brussels, 23/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - Tuesday's Ecofin Council adopted without debate the directive modifying directive 77/388/EEC on the common value added tax system as regards the procedure for the adoption of exceptional measures and the allocation of executive competency. This directive provides for a procedure under which the Council may allow a Member State to apply specific measures derogating from normal VAT rules. It contains simplification measures, or measures to avoid certain kinds of fraud or tax evasion. The directive does away with the part of the current procedure whereby the Council is considered tacitly to approve a Member State's default opposition within two months of its notification. It also confers upon the Council the power to adopt technical administrative acts to implement the general rules of the sixth VAT directive in order to ensure greater uniformity in the application of Community legislation. The provisional text of the directive can be found at http: //europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/English/whatsnew_en.htm