Brussels, 13/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - There wasn't much on the agenda of Tuesday's ECOFIN Council, and debate was very rapid over most issues on the agenda of the first meeting of the Council of EU finance ministers under the chairmanship of the UK. Responding to a question, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown said nothing could be deduced from the brevity of debate and the absence of the French and Luxembourg finance ministers. Jean-Claude Juncker and Thierry Breton had sent Gordon Brown their apologies. Brown said the meeting on Tuesday had been serious and professional, with convergence of views on most areas of discussion, like terrorism, the British Presidency's programme and economic reform. The British Presidency's action would focus on economic reform, explained Brown, adding that all members of the Council had recognised globalisation's huge challenges and opportunities for Europe. He added that the Council 'considered the need to set timetables for further market liberalisation, a more independent competition policy, the reform of state aid and national action plans of structural economic reform'.
Postponing many issues on the agenda to the meeting in September, a more ambitious agenda can be expected for the ECOFIN meeting in Manchester. The feasibility of deducing a portion of the cost of air tickets to fund development was not debated in any detail on Tuesday, awaiting more detailed studies from the Commission and the Economic and Financial Committee, said Brown. Likewise, the Council asked the Commission and European Investment Bank to come up with options in September 2005 for supporting the economic regeneration of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip through a guarantee mechanism to encourage loans to small companies and infrastructure projects.
'I'm going to put this (cutting off the sources of terrorist funding, Ed.) on the agenda of the IMF and the World Bank meetings in the autumn,' explained Brown. He told reporters that the EU's finance ministers would have to continue their technical and political negotiations with third countries which have not yet set up any sophisticated systems. Many countries have invested in systems to track down the funding of terrorism, but they were not always up to the task, explained Brown, saying he was very concerned about states outside the EU taking very little action to prevent financial institutions being used for money to be laundered for terror financing: 'It's important to realise that you're only as strong as your weakest link. Where there are countries that are not taking action to cut off the sources of terrorist finance, we will clearly have continuing problems. That's why it was not only on the agenda today and will continue to be on the agenda of our meetings, but we'll put it on the agenda of the international foundations.' He refused to name names or indicate which countries might be subject to sanctions. Without debate, the finance ministers adopted the decision about a compulsory declaration for all cash imports and exports exceeding 10,000 euros. Ahead of the special JHA Council (see separate article) and with a view to assessing progress to date, Brown did not announce any new anti-terrorist measures.