02 June 2002

Agenda of ECOFIN Meeting 4 June

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EU Finance Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on June 4 will be called upon to prepare for the June 21-22 EU Summit in Seville. The Council will take note of the lack of progress made on the savings taxation issue and the code of conduct on business taxation. A political deal is expected for the draft Directive on Occupational Pensions.

Financial Services:
Commissioner Frits Bolkestein will present the sixth report on the state of play with the Financial Services Action Plan.

Under the heading of this initiative, the Council is required to consider the draft Directive on Prospectuses so as to define policy-making principles to allow the negotiations to continue. The debate will focus on the situation for professional rather than non-professional investors. The proposal should normally be adopted before the end of the year.

The Presidency has worked out a draft compromise for the Pension Funds Directive that it is hoped will lead to a political agreement. The compromise proposes including self-employed people in the scope of the Directive. A host Member State would also be entitled to create investment rules in the case of pension funds which have cross-border activities.

Taxation:
On the question of savings taxation, the Council will acknowledge that the talks with Switzerland have still not started. The country wants the Member States to adopt guidelines for allied sectors (Schengen, trade liberalisation in the services sector, for example). The June 10 General Affairs Council is supposed to adopt the terms of reference so as to be able to start talks with the country on the savings taxation issue.

Others:
The Council will also take note of a preliminary report on the implications of US power trader Enron going bankrupt. The informal Finance Council in Oviedo in April had asked the high-level working group on company law, chaired by Jaap Winter of the Netherlands, to consider this issue. A final agreement is expected on the revision of the Financial Regulation, in the wake of a meeting with the European Parliament on June 4.

Agenda

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