Brussels, 01/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - The French Presidency priorities on the economic and financial front can be summed up as the “triple F” - finance, food and fuel - as the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance put it, in English. With finance, France hopes to conclude “long-running files” on European supervision (Solvency II directive, and the banking directive on Basel II) and rating agencies (putting in place a European registration mechanism along the lines of what happens in the United States). France will then call for publication of commercial stocks of oil products at European level. “We are coming to a single view,” said a representative of the Presidency, which also intends to move on value added tax (VAT) on environmentally friendly products. VAT, once again, with the issue of labour-intensive services, and reflection on the future of the Lisbon strategy post-2010, are also on the agenda for the next six months. Harmonisation of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) will also be discussed, with no expectation of success, the Presidency says. It also wants to “improve the (Commission's) proposal” on the Small Business Act for Europe, with reflection to be given to privileged access to public contracts for innovative SMEs. (A.B./transl.rt)