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Europaudvalget 2007-08 (2. samling)
2828 - Økofin Bilag 2
Offentligt

20. november 2007

6. kontor, MIJ

Referat af rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 13. november 2007

Dagsordenspunkt:

Lissabon-strategien: Den nye treårige cyklus

Rådet drøftede fokus for den næste 3 års cyklus for Lissabon-strategien og vedtog

rådskonklusioner herom (jf.

vedlagte bilag).

Der var i Rådet enighed om, at der ikke

er behov for en grundlæggende ændring af de Integrerede Retningslinjer og at de

fire prioriterede områder vedr. beskæftigelse, investering i viden og innovation,

realisering af erhvervslivets potentiale samt energi og klimaforandringer fortsat

vurderes at være relvante. I den kommende 3 års cyklus bør der imidlertid være

større fokus på implementering og gennemførelse af reformtiltag.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Globalisering: De økonomiske konsekvenser af mi-

gration

Rådet havde – på baggrund af en ”issues note” fra Det Økonomisk-Politiske Ud-

valg (EPC) – en udveksling af synspunkter om de økonomiske konsekvenser af

immigration. EPC-noten berører bl.a. immigrationens effekter på beskæftigelsen,

produktiviteten, de offentlige finanser, mobiliteten på arbejdsmarkedet samt mu-

ligheden for at afhjælpe flaskehalse. Rådet fremhævede bl.a., at migration ikke kan

afløse behovet for strukturelle reformer i medlemslandene. Migration kan på kor-

tere sigt hjælpe til at skabe mere balancerede konjunkturforløb, men kan generelt

ikke forventes at bidrage betydeligt til finansieringen af befolkningernes aldring.

Virkningerne af migration kan endvidere være forskellige mellem lande.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Statistik

Rådet drøftede Statusrapporten for 2007 om informationskravene i ØMU’en og

vedtog rådskonklusioner herom (jf.

vedlagte bilag).

Endvidere drøftedes arbejdet

med reduktion af de statistiske byrderrammer, EU’s statistiske styring samt hånd-

teringen af større statistiske revisioner.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Kommissionens direktivforslag om forlængelse af

ordninger om nedsat moms for nye medlemslande

Rådet havde en kort udveksling af synspunkter vedr. Kommissionens forslag om

forlængelse af nogle af de nye medlemslandes undtagelser fra momsdirektivets

generelle regler om nedsatte momssatser. Rådet ventes at vende tilbage til sagen

på rådsmødet den 4. december 2007.

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Dagsordenspunkt:

Momspakken

Rådet havde en udveksling af synspunkter om de resterende udeståender i forhold

til en aftale om en samlet momspakke. Rådet nåede på rådsmødet den 5. juni 2007

til enighed om momspakken, dog med undtagelse af spørgsmålet om forbrugs-

landsbeskatning af fjernleverede tele-, elektroniske og broadcastydelser B2C.

Rådet ventes at vende tilbage til drøftelsen af momspakken på rådsmødet den 4.

december 2007 mhp. enighed om den samlede momspakke.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Bilbeskatning

Rådet drøftede Kommissionens direktivforslag om personbilsbeskatning, herun-

der mulighederne for CO

-differentiering af de løbende bilafgifter. På baggrund af

medlemslandenes tilkendegivelser i forhold til EU-regulering på dette område,

ventes formandskabet i samarbejde med Kommissionen at evaluere den videre

proces i forhold til Rådets behandling af direktivforslaget.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Galileo - finansieringsaspekter

Rådet havde en udveksling af synspunkter vedr. Kommissionens forslag til finan-

siering af Galileo-projektet. Rådet enedes om at drøfte finansieringsspørgsmålet

forud for – og i forbindelse med – de forestående drøftelser med Europa-

Parlamentet om EU’s budget for 2008 mhp. på en samlet aftale.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Revisionsrettens årsberetning for 2006

Revisionsretten præsenterede Rådet for sin årsberetning for finansåret 2006. Rå-

det noterede sig fremskridtene i forhold til tidligere årsberetninger, men noterede

samtidig, at der fortsat er behov for yderligere arbejde mhp. at opnå en bedre ad-

ministration af EU’s midler.

Rådet ventes på rådsmødet den 4. marts 2008, at drøfte en henstilling til Europa-

Parlamentet om meddelelse af decharge til Kommissionen for gennemførelsen af

budgettet for 2006.

Diverse:

I marginen af mødet havde ministrene det årlige møde med økonomi- og finans-

ministrene fra de fire EFTA-lande (Island, Liechtenstein, Norge og Schweitz). På

mødet drøftedes de økonomiske aspekter af klima- og energipolitik.

Under frokosten drøftede ministrene perspektiverne i et fremtidigt nedsat moms-

system i EU.

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Bilag:

Rådskonklusioner vedr. Lissabon-strategien:

"The Council welcomes the presentation of the Communication by the Commis-

sion on "The European Interest: Succeeding in the age of globalisation", and

agrees with the Commission that the EU and its Member States need to work

together to take full advantage of globalisation and successfully address the chal-

lenges of ageing populations and environmental developments.

Comprehensive implementation of reforms at national and Community level,

including making full use of the present favourable economic conditions, remains

key to the long-term economic success of the European economy. A key instru-

ment for the EU to reach its common ambitions in this regard is the renewed

Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs and the Integrated Guidelines.

The renewed Lisbon Strategy is starting to deliver and the Integrated Guidelines

have been fulfilling their role, also accompanied by a strong business cycle. They

provide a coherent basis for necessary reforms in order to modernise the Europe-

an economies by improving the ability to adapt to rapid changes. The Council

therefore agrees with the Commission that the Integrated Guidelines do not need

a fundamental overhaul, as stability is an important element for the effectiveness

of the Lisbon Strategy and of the Integrated Guidelines. Therefore, the main

focus of this new cycle should be on implementation and delivery of reform, ac-

knowledging that more reforms are needed.

The four priority areas of reform identified by the European Council in Spring

2006 continue to provide the right frame for the Strategy at both EU and national

level: employment; knowledge and innovation; business potential; and energy and

climate change. In all four priority areas, there is the need for greater focus in im-

plementation, for example on measures related to ageing populations and securing

long-term fiscal sustainability, labour markets and employment, measures to boost

labour participation and raise labour productivity, the quality of public finances,

energy and climate change, the internal market, the regulatory environment and

SMEs, as well as competition, research and innovation. The challenges and op-

portunities of globalisation should be fully taken into account in the external di-

mension of the Strategy.

The Council also emphasizes that the Community Lisbon Programme is central to

the partnership approach embodied in the re-launched Lisbon strategy. The

Council in this regard considers that there remains room for strengthening the

rationale and focus of action at Community level to improve the coherence of

reforms and maximise positive spill-over effects. Reviewing the Community Lis-

bon Programme is an area where an update of the Strategy can add real value. It

also underlines the importance of having economically sound and transparent

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assessments of progress with structural reforms which ensure consistency across

policy areas and Member States.

In terms of ownership, the Council underlines the importance of engaging differ-

ent levels of government in the Strategy as appropriate, and of further developing

the exchange of best practices among Member States. Ownership of the Commu-

nity Lisbon Programme by the Council and Parliament could be enhanced. In

addition, the communication of successes should be intensified.

The Council:

–

welcomes the transmission of the second implementation reports of the

National Reform Programmes presented by Member States in the au-

tumn of 2007;

looks forward to considering the results of the next round of multilateral

surveillance by the Economic Policy Committee;

looks forward to the Commission's Strategic Report, including its as-

sessment of progress made at national level and on the Community Lis-

bon Programme, and to further proposals to support the capacity of the

EU to shape the globalisation agenda based on an outward-facing ap-

proach that promotes competitive markets, openness and fairness, and

harnesses to best effect the different internal and external dimensions of

the Lisbon Strategy;

encourages the Committee to continue its work on developing a clear

and transparent methodology at EU level to assess Lisbon reforms, and

together with the Commission improve the economic underpinnings of

approaches used to track and evaluate the impact of structural reforms;

notes that the revision of the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) in

2008 will be an important opportunity for Member States to review their

own priorities and set down their key challenges for the period 2008-

2011; and

re-iterates the need for consistency between the Lisbon Strategy, sound

and sustainable fiscal policies and a macroeconomic environment con-

ducive to non-inflationary growth, as well as with all EU instruments

that promote the Lisbon agenda goals."

–

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Rådskonklusioner vedr. statistik:

"Following the priorities set-up in the ECOFIN Council on 8 November 2005 on

statistical governance, on 7 November 2006 on the Status Report on Information

Requirements in EMU and on the public communication of major statistical revi-

sions, and on 28 November 2006 on the reduction of the administrative burden

related to statistics, the ECOFIN Council reviewed progress made in these areas.

2007 EFC Status Report on Information Requirements

The Council ENDORSES the 2007 EFC Status Report on Information Require-

ments in the EMU. In particular, the Council:

–

WELCOMES the progress achieved with the Principal European Eco-

nomic Indicators (PEEIs), following the recommendations of the 2006

EFC Status Report;

RECOGNISES that, in general, the timeliness targets, as fixed by the

Communication of the Commission of 27 November 2002, have been

reached for the majority of PEEIs, ENCOURAGES ongoing efforts to

promote best practices and data sharing; REITERATES the need to

strengthen the accuracy and reliability of the indicators; and CALLS

UPON Member States, Eurostat and the ECB to strengthen the PEEIs

and the underlying basic statistics by developing and implementing all

the necessary technical and legal instruments;

CALLS UPON the European Statistical System to step up efforts to also

ensure the regular availability and high quality of the statistics for struc-

tural analysis, and

INVITES Eurostat and the ECB to provide an updated Status Report

on the fulfilment of EMU statistical requirements in 2008; and to review

the scope, timeliness and quality of the PEEIs in the light of the results

achieved, the constraints encountered and the evolving users’ needs for

economic and monetary policy purposes.

–

Reduction of statistical burden

The Council NOTES that, following the adoption of the Commission’s Commu-

nication of 14 November 2006 and the ECOFIN Council conclusions on 28 No-

vember 2006, available measurements have not indicated a significant reduction in

the overall statistical burden since 2006; and EMPHASISES that the right balance

has to be found between minimising the response burden and providing suffi-

ciently high quality statistics for Community policies. The Council in particular:

–

EMPHASISES the desirability of respondents to report only once by

combining reporting for different purposes and make the best use of the

data that is already available by integrating existing statistics, including

administrative data, to the extent possible;

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–

WELCOMES the ongoing simplification efforts in a number of priority

areas as well as the new legislation and processes that are being planned

with the objective to improve priority-setting, and in particular WEL-

COMES the examination by the Commission (Eurostat), the Statistical

Programme Committee (SPC) and the Committee for Monetary, Finan-

cial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) regarding the simplifica-

tion of Intrastat; AGREES with the objective to reduce the coverage ra-

tio in the short term while preparing a move to an alternative method in

the long term, such as the single flow method, which requires further

study;

WELCOMES the forthcoming Community Statistical Programme (2008

– 2012), which introduces clear requirements for priority-setting; and

INVITES the Commission to step up its efforts to enhance the meas-

urement of the statistical response burden with a view to develop agreed

criteria to assess progress objectively and to make a further assessment

of the change in overall burden by October 2008; and LOOKS FOR-

WARD to the results of the cost-benefit analyses in 2008 in the key areas

outlined.

–

Statistical Governance

The Council reviewed the progress made with the efforts to enhance independ-

ence, integrity and accountability of Eurostat and the European Statistical System

in the light of the conclusion of the Ecofin Council on 8 November 2005. In par-

ticular, the Council:

–

WELCOMES the agreement reached with the European Parliament and

the Commission on the establishment of the European Statistical Gov-

ernance Advisory Board (ESGAB) and the European Statistical Advisory

Committee (ESAC), and LOOKS FORWARD to their swift establish-

ment;

WELCOMES the initiative to modernise the current legal framework

governing the development, production and dissemination of European

Statistics; and TAKES NOTE that the Commission forwarded to the

Council, in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 251 of the

Treaty (co-decision), a proposal for a Regulation on European Statistics;

and

RECOGNISES the major efforts required by National Statistical Insti-

tutes and Eurostat in the peer review exercise, as well as the high com-

mitment of the partners involved, LOOKS FORWARD to the report to

the European Parliament and the Council on progress with the compli-

ance with the European Statistics Code of Practice in 2008; and UN-

DERLINES the importance that all Member States provide the neces-

sary input to Eurostat according to the agreed timetable.

–

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Communication of Major Statistical Revisions

The Council STRESSES that major revisions of macro-economic and social sta-

tistics in Member States can have substantive implications for European econom-

ic policies and for the credibility of the European Statistical System as a whole;

and that a proper communication of the impacts of major revisions within the EU

is crucial. Therefore, the Council WELCOMES the guidelines on the public

communication of major statistical revisions in the European Union as set up by

the CMFB, in response to the conclusions of the Ecofin Council of 7 November

2006; and INVITES Member States to follow these guidelines. "