Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will report on the ECOFIN meeting of 6 December 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38910/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I did not attend the ECOFIN meeting in Brussels on 6 December 2005 due to pressure to complete final preparations for the Irish national budget, which was announced on 7 December 2005. Ambassador Bobby McDonagh, the Permanent Representative for Ireland to the EU, attended ECOFIN in my absence. The main results of the Council were as follows, namely, the Council adopted conclusions on the challenges of globalisation and on national reform programmes, prepared by the member states under the Lisbon economic reform strategy, it agreed on a general approach, as part of the EU's strategy against terrorist financing, on the provision of information on the payer accompanying transfers of funds and also agreed to submit work on reduced VAT rates to the European Council on 15 and 16 December with a view to reaching an agreement. If no agreement is reached at the European Council, Austria, as the next Presidency, indicated that it would put the matter on the agenda for the January 2006 ECOFIN meeting.

The Council discussed future work on regulatory reform on the basis of a discussion paper prepared by the current United Kingdom and future Austrian and Finnish presidencies. The initiative is intended to enable improvements to the regulatory environment in Europe to bring productivity benefits to member states and provide a boost to growth and jobs. The Council heard a report from the chair of the code of conduct on business taxation group. This group has done important work over the last eight years as part of the commitment to eliminate harmful tax competition. The Council took note of the presentation by the Commission of a White Paper on EU financial services policy for the 2005-10 period. The White Paper draws on the results of a public consultation held by the Commission on the basis of a green paper it adopted in May. The Council took note of progress in other Council configurations on implementation of the EU's action plan on combating terrorism and of the plan's strategy on preventing terrorist financing.

The Council discussed measures taken to follow up a statement on oil prices issued at the informal ECOFIN meeting held in Manchester on 9 and 10 September and was briefed on a recent visit to Saudi Arabia by the president of the Council and the French finance minister and on discussions on energy related issues at the G7 finance ministers' meeting in London on 2 and 3 December. The discussion focused on prospects for prices in the medium and long term and on the appropriate policy response as regards both supply side measures — dialogue with oil producing countries, investments — and demand side measures, such as energy efficiency and reducing oil dependence, as well as the functioning and transparency of oil markets.

The Council adopted a decision approving the conclusion of an agreement on the participation of the ten new EU member states in the European Economic Area. The Council agreed to send a request for assent to the European Parliament concerning a draft decision on the conclusion by the EU of the energy community treaty. The objective of this treaty is to create an integrated market in natural gas and electricity in south-east Europe between the EU and the countries of the region. It will be evident from this list of items that the Council had a very productive meeting.