C:\ConvertIt\DocFolder\$ASQ191971.DOC 21. juni 2005 12 CHM Referat af rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 7. juni 2005 Dagsordenspunkt:   Forberedelse af Det Europæiske Råd den 16.-17. juni 2005 – De overordnede økono- misk-politiske retningslinjer (BEPG) På grundlag af Kommissionens henstilling og bidragene fra de øvrige be- rørte rådsformationer vedtog Rådet sit udkast til rapport om de overord- nede økonomisk-politiske retningslinjer. De overordnede økonomisk- politiske retningslinjer udgør sammen med retningslinjerne for medlems- landenes beskæftigelsespolitikker de integrerede retningslinjer for perio- den 2005-2008.   Udkastet til Rådets rapport vil blive fremsendt til Det Europæiske Råd den 16.-17. juni 2005 og ventes herefter endeligt vedtaget af Rådet (ECOFIN).    Dagsordenspunkt: Stabilitets- og Vækstpagten – Ophævelse af proceduren for uforholdsmæssigt store un- derskud vedrørende Nederlandene Rådet traf beslutning, jf. Traktatens artikel 104.12, om at ophæve Rådet (ECOFIN)’s afgørelse af 2. juni 2004, jf. Traktatens artikel 104.6, om ek- sistensen af et uforholdsmæssigt stort underskud i Nederlandene. Rådet konstaterer, at Nederlandene har korrigeret sit uforholdsmæssige store underskud i overensstemmelse med Rådets henstilling af 2. juni 2005, jf. Traktatens artikel 104.7, om at bringe situationen med et uforholdsmæs- sigt stort underskud til ophør senest i 2005. Dagsordenspunkt: Euromønter Rådet vedtog tre konklusionstekster (vedlagt) vedrørende euromønter, herunder 1) verifikation af euromønters ægthed og behandling af euro- mønter, der er uegnede til cirkulation, 2) retningslinjer for den nationale side på euromønter samt 3) ændring af fælles side på euromønter.   Dagsordenspunkt: Statistik – Europæisk strategi for ledelse og ansvar vedrørende statistik for offentlige fi- nanser Rådet vedtog i opfølgning af rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 17. februar 2005 rådskonklusioner (vedlagt), der i store træk hilser Kommissionens forslag til ændring af forordning (EF) nr. 3605/93 for så vidt angår kvaliteten af den statistiske data til brug ved proceduren for uforholdsmæssigt store underskud velkommen. Ændringerne inkluderer primært overvågning af datakvalitet i form af kontrolbesøg, skabelsen af et retligt grundlag for

2 indsamling og rapportering af data samt mere transparens og ansvarlighed i rapporteringsprocessen både nationalt og i Kommissionen.   Konklusionerne understreger bl.a., at kontrolbesøgene skal begrænses til det rent statistiske område og de nationale myndigheder, der er ansvarlige for indberetningen i forbindelse med proceduren for uforholdsmæssigt store underskud. Desuden pointeres vigtigheden af Eurostats arbejde med at reducere kravene til mængden af data på områder, hvor det er muligt at frigøre ressourcer til kvalitetssikring mv. således, at statistikkontorernes muligheder for at efterleve de høje statistiske krav øges. Rådet hilser des- uden en adfærdskodeks for europæisk statistik velkommen, under forud- sætning af yderligere præcisering af praktiske detaljer. Endelig anerkendes behovet for at overveje oprettelsen af et rådgivende organ på højt niveau med beføjelse til at fremme uafhængighed, integritet og ansvarlighed i Eurostat og det europæiske statistiske system. Dagsordenspunkt: Finansiering af ulandsbistand Formandskabet og UK præsenterede et fælles papir med et forslag til en samlet bruttopakke af initiativer til finansiering af ulandsbistand. Hensig- ten med pakken er, at det kan udgøre en fælles EU-position for finansie- ring af ulandsbistand til det forestående FN-topmøde i september, hvor stats- og regeringschefer skal gøre status over opfyldelsen af 2015-målene.   Der var blandt ministrene enighed om flere af bruttopakkens elementer, herunder et nyt midvejsmål for EU’s samlede bistandsniveau på 0,56 pct. af BNI i 2010, højere bistandseffektivitet og fremme af den internationale handel. Der var blandt medlemslandene overvejende skepsis mod forsla- get vedr. afgifter på flybilletter. Flere lande påpegede vigtigheden af, at afgiften skulle være frivillig. Tre grader af frivillighed blev drøftet i for- bindelse med indførelse af billetafgiften, herunder frivillighed for med- lemslandene, flyselskaberne og passagererne at hhv. indføre, opkræve og betale afgiften. Kommissionen blev bedt om at udarbejde en rapport ved- rørende de administrative, tekniske samt økonomiske aspekter af eventu- elle flybilletafgifter.   Den Finansielle og Økonomiske Komité (EFC) ventes at behandle sagen, herunder primært de tekniske aspekter af forslagene vedrørende afgifter på flybilletter.   Der blev lagt op til, at ikke alle medlemslande behøver at deltage aktivt i alle pakkens elementer. Dagsordenspunkt: Finansielle tjenesteydelser – 3. hvidvaskdi- rektiv   Rådet vedtog uden drøftelse direktiv om forebyggende foranstaltninger mod anvendelse af det finansielle system til hvidvask af penge samt ter- rorfinansiering (3. hvidvaskdirektiv).

3 Dagsordenspunkt: Skat – Rentebeskatningsdirektivet   På baggrund af Kommissionens bekræftelse af, at betingelserne for rente- beskatningsdirektivets ikrafttræden er opfyldt, vedtog Rådet konklusioner (vedlagt), der bekræfter, at rentebeskatningsaftalerne med de fem tredje- lande og de ti tilknyttede områder kan træde i kraft med virkning fra den 1. juli 2005 med fortolkningen af artikel 6 stk. 6 som vedtaget på rådsmø- det (ECOFIN) den 12. april 2005.   Dagsordenspunkt: Skat –  Nedsat moms Formandskabet præsenterede sit løsningsforslag, hvori der gennemføres visse udvidelser af landenes muligheder for at anvende nedsatte momssat- ser, primært på visse arbejdskraftintensive ydelser og restaurantydelser.   En række lande var principielt imod udvidelse af anvendelsesområdet i EU for nedsat moms på varer og tjenesteydelser og fandt i lighed med Kommissionen, at et kriterium for anvendelsesområdet for nedsat moms kan være virkninger på det indre marked. Der var således ikke enighed om formandskabets løsningsforslag, og nedsat moms ventes behandlet igen under UK’s kommende formandskab. Der var heller ikke enighed om en særskilt ordning med nedsat moms for restaurationer i Frankrig. Dagsordenspunkt: Skat – Rente/royaltydirektivet Der kunne ikke opnås politisk enighed om ændring af ren- te/royaltydirektivet. Belgien kunne - som det eneste land - ikke acceptere formandskabets ændringsforslag, hvor et EU-land kan kildebeskatte ren- ter og royalties, hvis det modtagende selskab er fritaget for beskatning af de pågældende renter og royalties i det land, hvor selskabet er hjemhøren- de.   A-punkter   Rådet vedtog uden drøftelse rådskonklusioner (vedlagt) vedrørende ad- færdskodeksgruppens rapport. Rådet vedtog desuden ændringer til 4. og 7. selskabsdirektiv, som er et led i handlingsplanen om en modernisering af selskabsretten og en forbedret selskabsledelse i EU. Diverse De finansielle perspektiver for perioden 2007-2013 blev ikke drøftet. På frokosten drøftede man domstolens praksis på det skattepolitiske om- råde, og der var enighed om at nedsætte en uformel gruppe på højt niveau til drøftelse heraf. Endelig drøftede man kort Den Europæiske Investe- ringsbank (EIB’s) aktivitet i Folkerepublikken Kina, herunder et luft- havnsprojekt i Beijing. Der var blandt ministrene enighed om støtte til et sådant projekt.

4 Rådskonklusioner vedrørende verifikation af euromønters ægthed og behandling af euromønter, der er uegnede til cirkulation “It is important for the public that euro coins in circulation are genuine and fit. In this context, the Council welcomes the Commission Recom- mendation concerning authentication of euro coins and handling of euro coins unfit for circulation.   The recommended procedures for the proper functioning of the relevant coin processing equipment are designed to ensure that the appropriate quantities of euro coins are authentic and that counterfeits as well as unfit euro coins and other euro coin-like objects are removed. The implementation of this procedure will contribute to the correct implementation of the relevant Community legislation.   Euro coins unfit for circulation may be submitted to euro area Member States by companies or individuals and should be reimbursed irrespective of national side, in line with the provisions of the Recommendation. Uni- form handling fees should, in principle, be imposed for these submis- sions. However, small quantities of unfit euro coins should not be subject to fees, while Member States may also exempt companies which assist the authorities in withdrawing from circulation unfit coins. Reimbursement should be conditional upon appropriate packaging, while tests are rec- ommended to check for the quantity, authenticity and visual appearance of the submissions.”

5 Rådskonklusioner vedrørende ændring af den nationale side af eu- romønter “1. The Council welcomes the common guidelines for the national sides which the Commission adopted in its Recommendation of 3 June 2005 and which have been prepared in close cooperation with Member States. 2. In particular, the Council agrees on the following elements: • Since euro coins circulate throughout the euro area, Member States should put a clear indication of the issuing Member State on the national side by means of the Member State’s name or an abbreviation of it. • Member States should refrain from repeating the denomination of the coin, or any parts thereof, or the currency name or its subdivision, on the national side, unless a different alphabet is used. The edge lettering of the 2-euro coins can bear an indication of the denomination, provided that only the figure “2” and/or the term “euro” are used. • Member States should inform each other on the design of new national sides, including the edge letterings, before they formally approve these designs. To this effect, new designs should be forwarded to the Commis- sion which will without delay inform the other Member States as appro- priate. These rules should apply to all future national sides and edge letterings of both normal and commemorative euro circulation coins issued after the adoption of these conclusions. No changes are required to existing na- tional sides.”

6 Rådskonklusioner vedrørende ændring af den fælles side af euro- mønter “The common side of the bi-colour coins (1- and 2-euro) and the “Nordic gold” coins (10-, 20- and 50-cent) currently represents the European Un- ion before it was enlarged from 15 to 25 Member States in May 2004. On the basis of new designs submitted by the Commission, the Council has therefore decided that the necessary technical preparations for the amendment of the common side of these coins should be completed so as to ensure that all EU Member States will in the future be represented. The common side of the smallest denomination coins (1-, 2- and 5-cent) rep- resent Europe in the world and are not affected by the enlargement of the European Union. By taking this decision on a timely basis, the Council wants to make cer- tain that countries adopting the euro in the future, and possibly already as from 2007, will be able to mint coins with the new common side. The existing euro-area Member States will also change over to the new com- mon side once they have completed all technical preparations. The new common side will only be used for future coin production. All euro coins already in circulation remain perfectly valid and will not be replaced.”

7 Rådskonklusioner vedrørende statistik “The  Ecofin  Council  of  2  June  2004  concluded  that  there  is  a  need  “to develop minimum European standards for the institutional set-up of sta- tistical authorities” and “to review priorities of the statistics and to reduce (legal) requirements for areas which are now considered to be of less im- portance.”  The  Ecofin  Council  expected  proposals  on  these  issues  by June 2005. In  its  Communication  “Towards  a  European  Governance  Strategy  for Fiscal  Statistics”  of  22  December  2004,  the  Commission  proposed  three lines  of  action:  building  up  the  legislative  framework;  improving  the  op- erational capacities of the relevant Commission services; and establishing European-wide standards on the independence, integrity and accountabil- ity  of  national  statistical  institutes.  The  Ecofin  Council  of  17  February 2005  welcomed  the  Communication  and  emphasised  a  set  of  principles that  should  guide  future  work  on  improving  statistical  governance.  The Council underlined that “the core issue remains to ensure adequate prac- tices,  resources  and  capabilities  to  produce  high-quality  statistics  at  the national  level.  It  is  the  responsibility  of  Member  States  to  ensure  that their  national  statistical  offices  have  sufficient  resources  to  function  ef- fectively.” Furthermore, the Ecofin emphasised that the “independence of Eurostat  for  the  fulfilment  of  its  mission  should  be  enhanced  and  for- mally established to clarify the internal statistical governance of the rele- vant  Commission  services.”  The  Ecofin  report  on  improving  the  imple- mentation  of  the  Stability  and  Growth  Pact,  which  was  endorsed  by  the European  Council  on  23  March  2005,  reinforced  this  need  to  develop statistical governance.¹ On  2  March  2005,  the  Commission  adopted  a  proposal  for  a  Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 as regards the quality of  statistical  data  in  the  context  of  the  excessive  deficit  procedure.  The Commission adopted on 25 May 2005 a Communication to the European Parliament  and  to  the  Council  spelling  out  its  ideas  on  improving  the governance  of  Eurostat  and  the  European  statistical  system  as  well  as principles  for  the  setting  of  statistical  priorities.  Furthermore,  the  Com- mission  issued  a  Recommendation  on  the  independence,  integrity  and accountability of the national and Community statistical authorities.   The Ecofin Council broadly welcomes the suggested course of action as well as most of the proposed elements, and would like to emphasise the following: 1 According  to  the  Ecofin  report  from  20  March  2005:  “ The  core  issue  remains  to  ensure adequate practices, resources and capabilities to produce high-quality statistics at the national and European level with a view to ensuring the independence, integrity and accountability of both national statistical offices and Eurostat. Furthermore, the focus must be on developing the operational capacity, monitoring power, independence and accountability of Eurostat.”

8 With a view to the discussions in the Council Working Group Statis- tics  (STATIS)  and  in  the  EFC  sub-Committee  on  Statistics,  the Commission has now also put forward more details on the envisaged implementation  of  the  in-depth  visits.  Based  on  this,  these  visits should  more  appropriately  be  called  “methodological  visits”.  Legal clarification on the visits conducted by Eurostat in terms of new ob- ligations for the Member States is needed to enable them to endorse the envisaged regulation. The conduct of these possible methodologi- cal visits will be based on close co-ordination amongst all the relevant fora involved, in particular the EFC. In this context, it is important to ensure  that  the  possible  methodological  visits  should  not  go  beyond the purely statistical domain, which should be reflected in the compo- sition of the delegations. The assessment will focus on areas specified in  the  inventories  of  Member  States  such  as  the  delimitation  of  the government sector, the classification of government transactions and liabilities, and the time of recording. Further precisions are expected in the upcoming Commission document on these visits. The practical modalities  should  be  discussed  with  the  relevant  fora.  They  will  be made  public  when  the  Council  regulation  is  adopted.  Furthermore, there is still scope for further discussion on some aspects such as sta- tistical confidentiality. In this context, there is the need to strike the right  balance  between  the  benefits  in  terms  of  improved  statistical quality  and  the  costs  in  terms  of  added  administrative  burden  at  the EU and national level. "Dialogue visits" should be the rule. Methodo- logical visits should only be undertaken in cases where Eurostat iden- tifies substantial risks or potential problems about the methods, con- cepts and classifications applied to the data, which Member States are obliged to report.  These visits will be particularly relevant in case of possible  upcoming  important  decisions,  concerning  a  Member  State, that  will  be  taken  on  the  basis  of  reported  fiscal  data.  These  visits should be confined to the national authorities involved in the exces- sive  deficit  procedure  reporting.  The  draft  Regulation  should  be amended accordingly. In  the  event  that  Eurostat  expresses  any  reservation  on  the  data  by Member  States,  these  reservations  should  be  communicated  to  the Member  States  in  due  time  before  the  publication  of  the  assessment. This has to be balanced against the tight schedule for Eurostat which disposes only of a time span of three weeks to examine the EDP data of  25  Member  States.  The  Council  therefore  considers  that  Eurostat should communicate any possible  reservation  three working days  (in- stead  of  the  five  working  days  in  the  current  draft  version)  ahead  of the  publication.  Article  16  of  the  draft  regulation  should  be  adjusted accordingly. In Articles 10 and 11 of the draft regulation, the consultation of the CMFB  is  referred  to.  The  role,  areas  of  competence  and  functioning

9 of this committee as well as its interaction with Eurostat including the communication  policy  of  the  eventual  Eurostat  decisions  should  be evaluated. The EFC should report on its findings to the Ecofin Coun- cil by the end of 2005.   National Statistical offices’ capacity to meet high statistical standards depends crucially on the ability to prioritise the burden from EU sta- tistical  requirements  on  authorities.  Priority  setting  in  this  respect would  also  need  to  be  conducive  to  a  reduced  regulatory  burden  on respondents, simplified legislation and the freeing up of resources for new statistical developments. The Council therefore welcomes the on- going  work,  which  Eurostat  initiated,  to  reduce  statistical  require- ments agreed upon prior to the EMU Action Plan. This work will be further  facilitated  by  the  principles,  put  forward  by  the  Commission, to  identify  positive  and  negative  priorities.  Relevance  for  EU  and EMU-policy making should be the overarching benchmark for assess- ing  future  and  existing  European  statistical  requirements.  Further- more, benefits and costs should be carefully balanced and be reflected in the method and implementation details. It is vital that work on this important area is accelerated. The work should fully take into account the detailed proposals which the Task Force Improved Priority Setting in its  final report presented  to 53^rd meeting  of the SPC in  May 2004. The Council invites the EFC, with the assistance of Eurostat and the ECB, to provide by December 2005 an update on progress on a rebal- ancing of priorities. The  Council  welcomes  the  European  Statistics  Code  of  Practice adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) on 24 Febru- ary 2005 and the Commission Recommendation, putting forward ideas on how to monitor its implementation but notes that the practical de- tails  still  need  to  be  specified  further.  In  particular,  the  Council  wel- comes  the  ideas  of  initiating  a  gradual  approach  over  three  years  of self-assessments  and  peer  review  assessments  resulting  in  an  imple- mentation  report  by  the  Commission,  as  well  as  the  Commission’s Recommendation promulgating the code of practice. The Recommen- dation  should  call  for  strong  political  and  institutional  support  at  all levels for the full implementation.   The  Council  takes  note  of  the  Commission’s  intention  to  consider proposing the establishment of a high level advisory body with politi- cal visibility and power to enhance the independence, integrity and ac- countability  of  Eurostat  and  of  the  European  Statistical  System.  In this  context,  it  is  important  to  discuss  further  the  role  and  power  of this  body,  its  scope  (Eurostat  or  the  whole  European  Statistical  Sys- tem)  and  its  composition  as  well  as  its  relation  to  CEIES  (European Advisory  Committee  on  statistical  information  in  the  economic  and social spheres).

10 The professional   independence   and   credibility   of   Eurostat stems much from its competence in statistics and its operational capacity to fulfil the tasks listed in the Commission Decision 97/281/EC on the role  of  Eurostat.  For  the  fulfilment  of  its  permanent professional tasks, Eurostat should have appropriate staff resources. Finally, the Council considers the above elements as parts of an over- all package to enhance the quality of statistical data in the EU as well as to limit the administrative and regulatory burden on national statis- tical authorities. The Council calls upon all parties involved to follow- up vigorously on their commitments in order to make further progress on all elements of the package and to adopt soon the remaining legal instruments.”

11 Rådskonklusioner vedrørende rentebeskatningsdirektivet “1. The Council recalled its conclusions of January 2003, June 2003 and June 2004 and itsdecision of 19 July 2004 to change the date of application of the Savings Tax Directive from 1 January 2005 to 1 July 2005. 2. The Council referred to the conditions provided for in Article 17 paragraph 2 of the SavingsTax Directive and the corresponding Articles in the respective savings tax agreements between the Community and 5 European third countries (Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland) and between the 25 Member States and the 10 relevant dependent or associated territories (Guern- sey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turcs and Caicos Islands) that the Mem- ber States and the other treaty partners shall apply the agreed savings tax meas- ures from 1 July 2005 provided that all treaty partners apply the same measures (10 relevant territories) or equivalent measures (5 European third countries) from that same date. 3. The Council took stock of progress as regards the application of the Savings Tax Directive within the Community on the basis of a report from the Commis- sion Services (doc. 9556/05 FISC 62). It concluded that all Member States had transposed the Savings Tax Directive into national law and were ready to apply the directive from 1 July 2005, subject to Article 17 Paragraph 2 of the Savings Tax Directive. 4. The Council also took stock of progress as regards the relations with the 5 European third countries and the 10 relevant dependent or associated territories on the basis of reports from the Commission Services (doc. 9557/05 FISC 63) and the Council Secretariat (doc. 9558/05 FISC 64). It concluded that all 40 treaty partners (25 Member States, 5 European third countries, 10 relevant terri- tories) had notified that they were ready to (provisionally) apply the agreed sav- ings tax measures from 1 July 2005 subject to Article 17 paragraph 2 of the Sav- ings Tax Directive and the corresponding Articles in the respective savings tax agreements1; 5. In accordance with its conclusions of 12 April 2005, the Council verified the availability of written implementation guarantees received by the Council Secre- tariat (doc. 9536/05 FISC 60 + ADD 1). 6. The Council took note of confirmations under Article 17 Paragraph 2 of the Savings Tax Directive and the corresponding Articles in the respective savings tax agreements, by all Member States, by the Netherlands on behalf of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, and by the United Kingdom on behalf of the 5 Caribbean Territories, that they shall (provisionally) apply the agreed savings tax measures from 1 July 2005, subject to an information I/A note by the Council Secretariat that the same confirmations have been received from all other treaty partners. 7. On that basis the Council invited the other treaty partners (Andorra, Liech- tenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man) to

12 confirm on their part under Article 17 Paragraph 2 of the Savings Tax Directive and the corresponding Articles in the respective savings tax agreements that they shall apply the agreed savings tax measures from 1 July 2005, subject to an information note by the Council Secretariat that the same confirmations have been received from all treaty partners. To facilitate this process all treaty part- ners will have access to the relevant information as electronically stored by the Council Secretariat. 1 In the case of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in relation to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, the Netherlands notified an internal "Law of the Kingdom" rather than two bilateral agreements, providing for the agreed savings tax meas- ures to be applied between these parties from 1 July 2005, subject to Article 17 paragraph 2 of the Savings Tax Directive and the corresponding articles in the savings tax agreements.

13 Rådskonklusioner vedrørende adfærdsgruppens rapport “The Council Welcomes the progress achieved by the Code of Conduct Group (Business Taxation) as set out in its report (doc. 9427/05 FISC 55). Notes that the Code of Conduct Group has considered the proposed revised or replacement measures of the measures mentioned in para- graphs 22 to 24 and the Revenue from Stock Exchange operations measure referred to in paragraph 25 of doc. 9427/05 FISC 55 against the established criteria of the Code of Conduct and has found that none of these are harmful within the meaning of the Code. Agrees that the proposed revised or replacement measures mentioned in paragraphs 12, 14, 15 and 17 of doc. 9427/05 FISC 55 are ade- quate to achieve rollback of all the harmful features of the measures. Asks the Group to continue monitoring standstill and the implemen- tation of rollback and report to the Council before the end of the United Kingdom Presidency.”