12592/02 (Presse 298)
2453rd Council meeting
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Luxembourg, 8 October 2002
President :
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Minister for Finance of the Kingdom of Denmark
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TAX ISSUES .......................................................................................................................................6
–
TAXATION OF SAVINGS .......................................................................................................6
–
ENERGY TAXATION...............................................................................................................6
STREAMLINING THE ANNUAL ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT POLICY
COORDINATION CYCLES ...............................................................................................................7
REVIEW OF THE EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY.......................................................8
ENLARGEMENT - BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL ASPECTS..................................................9
FINANCIAL STABILITY, SUPERVISION AND INTEGRATION .................................................9
MACRO-FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE - &RXQFLO&RQFOXVLRQV ........................................................10
AIRLINE INSURANCE ....................................................................................................................13
RUSSIA..............................................................................................................................................14
OTHER ITEMS..................................................................................................................................14
–
Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Trust Fund................................................................14
INFORMAL MINISTERIAL DISCUSSIONS..................................................................................15
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Sweden - differentiated rate of energy tax ................................................................................................................I
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EU inventory on protection of civil populations against nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical
(NRBC) terrorist attacks ...........................................................................................................................................I
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Slovakia - Set up of a Joint Consultative Committee ...............................................................................................I
–
Negotiations on further mutual concessions for processed agricultural products ................................................... II
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Accession of FYROM to the WTO ........................................................................................................................ II
–
Anti-dumping - Polyester staple fibres from Belarus ............................................................................................. II
–
Commodities - International Natural Rubber Agreement ....................................................................................... II
,17(51$/0$5.(7
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Mutual recognition agreements with Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States ...................III
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Tariff quotas for certain agricultural and industrial products ................................................................................III
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Committee of the Regions .....................................................................................................................................III
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The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as
follows:
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Mr Grégoire BROUHNS
Secretary-General, High Representative in charge of Economic
Affairs
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Mr Thor PEDERSEN
Mr Henrik FUGMANN
Minister for Finance
State Secretary to the Ministry for Finance
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Mr Caio Kai KOCH-WESER
State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance
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Mr Nicos CHRISTODOULAKIS
Minister for the National Economy and Finance
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Mr Rodrigo de RATO Y FIGAREDO
Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Affairs
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Mr Francis MER
Minister for Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry
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Mr Charlie McCREEVY
Minister for Finance
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Mr Giulio TREMONTI
Minister for the Economy and Finance
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Mr Jean-Claude JUNCKER
Mr Luc FRIEDEN
Prime Minister, Minister for Finance
Minister for the Treasury and the Budget
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Mr J.F. HOOGERVORST
Minister for Finance
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Mr Karl-Heinz GRASSER
Federal Minister for Finance
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Ms Manuela FERREIRA LEITE
Ministra de Estado, Minister for Finance
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Mr Sauli NIINISTÖ
Minister for Finance
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Mr Sven HEGELUND
Mr Claes LJUNGH
State Secretary to the Minister for Finance
State Secretary to the Minister for Finance, with responsibility for
Taxation
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Mr Gordon BROWN
Chancellor of the Exchequer
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Mr Frits BOLKESTEIN
Mr Pedro SOLBES
Mr Günter VERHEUGEN
Ms Michaele SCHREYER
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Mr Philippe MAYSTADT
Mr Jan Willem OOSTERWIJK
Mr Johnny ÅKERHOLM
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President of the European Investment Bank
Chairman of the Economic Policy Committee
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee
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Participants from the EFTA countries attending the lunch with the ECOFIN Ministers :
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Mr Geir HAARDE
Minister for Finance
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Mr Otmar HASLER
Head of the Government and Minister for Finance
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Mr Per-Kristian FOSS
Minister for Finance
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Mr Kaspar VILLIGER
President of the Swiss Confederation
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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The Council reviewed the current state of play of negotiations with third countries and in
particular with Switzerland on the taxation of savings.
–
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The Council discussed, on the basis of an orientation paper from the Presidency, options for a
solution to the main outstanding issues concerning the proposal for an energy tax directive.
At the outcome of the discussion, an agreement was reached on the definition of energyintensive businesses while the three other outstanding issues (possibility of setting national
levels below the new minimum levels of taxation, arrangements for the use of diesel oil and
duration of transitional periods) were left for further examination of the Working Party on
Tax Questions on the basis of the orientation paper from the Presidency. The next ECOFIN
Council in November will assess the results of this examination.
At that meeting, the
Commission will also present a note on the state aid rules in relation to the exemptions and
reductions in the directive.
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The Council requested the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) and Economic and Financial
Committee (EFC) to continue their work on streamlining and to present an interim report to the next
ECOFIN Council session on 5 November, so that the Council can agree on a final report at its
session on 3 December 2002.
The Chairmen of the EFC and the EPC have made a report of the work in their Committees. They
support a rapid move to a new streamlined cycle, beginning if possible in 2003, with a broad
majority supporting a 3-year cycle for the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs) to underline
their strategic nature and promote the stability of policy objectives with eventual intermediate
updates. This would allow for a streamlining of annual reporting procedures and a better focus on
implementation. It would require a clear definition on the interaction between the BEPGs and other
economic co-ordination instruments, notably in the preparation of the Spring European Council.
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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The Council endorsed the Employment Committee (EMCO) and EPC ’s Joint Opinion which
constitutes an important contribution for a renewed European Employment Strategy (EES).
The EMCO and EPC Committees, taking into account the Barcelona European Council (March
2002) request to reinforce the strategy, have discussed the results of the evaluation and the review
of the EES on the basis of the Commission Communication, taking stock of five years of the
European Employment Strategy. The main elements of the review are the simplification of the EES
without undermining its effectiveness and the co-ordination with other EU processes notably the
Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs).
The Committees broadly agree with the Commission Communication. In their analysis, the Strategy
has contributed to changes in national employment policies which are clearly converging towards
the achievement of common EU-level objectives. There have been some recent structural
improvements in the EU’s labour market performance, with more employment-intensive growth,
wage moderation and greater responsiveness to economic and social changes. But the need for
structural reform of labours markets remains.
According to the Joint Opinion, the Employment Strategy should focus on the medium and longer
term challenges to be met by the Lisbon 2010 deadline. With a view to ensuring a clearer focus on
outcomes and on medium and long-term goals of the Strategy, greater stability in the Employment
Guidelines is necessary and changes need not be made every year. Overlaps and duplications with
other processes should, wherever possible, be avoided, in particular by increased co-ordination and
complementarity between EES and Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, while recognising the
importance of their respective roles and contributions.
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The Council, after hearing statements on the state of play of the enlargement process by
Commissioners Verheugen and Schreyer, held an orientation debate on budgetary and financial
aspects of enlargement in order to provide input to the work which leads up to the Brussels
European Council on 24 and 25 October 2002.
The President undertook to communicate the views expressed to Ministers most closely involved in
preparing the Brussels European Council and suggested that colleagues do likewise.
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The Council approved a report by the EFC on EU arrangements for financial regulation, supervision
and stability, subject to the suggestions and remarks made during the Council debate.
EFC will now reconsider the outstanding questions with a view to presenting a final report which
will be submitted to ECOFIN in December.
The Council invited the Presidency and the Commission to launch a broad consultation exercise on
the proposals, and noted that the Presidency will continue consultations with the European
Parliament on the new proposed structure.
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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The Council adopted the following conclusions :
"1.
The (Ecofin) Council, following discussions that took place in late 2000 concerning the
CARDS regulation on financial assistance for the Western Balkans and in the context of
preparations for enlargement, reviewed the provisions for extending EU macro-financial
assistance (MFA) to third countries.
2.
The Council considers that the existing decision-making procedures, including the unanimity
requirement under Article 308 of the Treaty, and implementation modalities have shown the
ability to react quickly in cases where a strong political consensus emerged on the urgency.
Nevertheless, the procedures are relatively lengthy and normally several months elapse from
the Commission proposal until final disbursement. Enlargement may further lengthen
decision-making given the unanimity requirement. In line with the recent recommendations of
the Court of Auditors, the Ecofin Council believes that the principles, conditions and
implementation modalities for all EU instruments of macro-economic nature need to be
streamlined.
3.
The Council agrees that a number of practical steps should be taken with a view to improving
the efficiency of the current decision-making process for EU macro-financial assistance. It
welcomes the practice now followed by the Commission services to systematically provide
early information on possible upcoming cases, and recommends to submit more complete
information when launching consultations of the EFC on individual cases (in particular
covering a “needs assessment”, i.e. a table on financing needs, the residual financing gap and
possible burdensharing); the setting of target dates for decisions; and regular reporting by the
Commission services to the EFC. Those measures should facilitate an earlier granting of
consent to individual cases. In cases which pose specific difficulties, it might also be
appropriate to co-ordinate at an early stage the Member States’ position at the IMF. Current
consultations on the precise funding operations has proven to be less important and could be
dropped.
4.
The Council also reviewed the Genval criteria, the last revision of which dates from 6 April
1995. In order to enhance transparency and clarify a number of aspects in regard of their
implementation, it agrees to update the Genval criteria as laid out in the Annex. This should
ensure reinforced complementarity with the Bretton Woods Institutions, improved
burdensharing and conditionality, and provide some guidance in regard of the grant element
of the assistance.
5.
Lastly, the Council is of the view that the latest information provided by the Commission on
the EC/Euratom lending and guarantee capacity for external actions indicates that there is no
immediate need to change the parameters of the Guarantee Fund mechanism. It mandates the
EFC to continue to monitor developments closely and review them again in the first half of
2003.
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The (Ecofin) Council:
Reviewed the Community’s macro-financial assistance to third countries provided through (Ecofin)
Council decisions;
Noted that the Community since 1990 has committed some ELOOLRQ RI PDFURILQDQFLDO
assistance to third countries, mainly the current candidate countries, some other eastern European
and Mediterranean countries and the Western Balkans in the form of untied and undesignated
balance of payments assistance, or budget support, taking the form of medium and long-term loans
or grants or a combination thereof;
Agreed that this assistance has in most cases usefully contributed to the implementation of
comprehensive macroeconomic adjustment and structural reform programmes supported by the
IMF and the World Bank;
Reconfirmed the following principles to which this assistance shall respond:
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The assistance is provided to third countries with which the Community maintains close political
and economic links, taking into account especially their geographical proximity and the Union’s
economic, commercial and political interests. A precondition is that they fully respect effective
democratic mechanisms, including multi-party parliamentary systems, the rule of law and
guarantees of human rights.
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A prerequisite for the mobilisation of this assistance shall be the existence of a significant and
commonly identified residual external financing gap, which is based on a comprehensive and
complete quantitative assessment and transparent background documentation, over and above the
resources provided by the IMF and other multilateral institutions and despite the implementation of
strong economic stabilisation and reform programmes. The Community is providing macrofinancial assistance in co-ordination with bilateral donors. The amounts of the Community
assistance will be decided, case-by-case, taking into account the factors in paragraph 2, the
maximum potential amounts available from the international financial institutions and a fair
burdensharing with bilateral donors as well as the level of private sector involvement.
Complementarity will also be sought between macro-financial assistance, the use of other EU
instruments of macro-economic nature, and the use of the Community’s technical assistance and
project related instruments.
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The assistance will generally be released in successive tranches, the disbursement of each of them
being conditional upon the fulfilment of clear and measurable macroeconomic performance and
structural adjustment criteria, based on the economic programmes of the beneficiary countries, as
agreed in upper credit tranche arrangements with the IMF. With a view of streamlining
conditionality, the Community will mostly base its criteria on the recipient country’ s adjustment
and reform programme agreed with the IMF and where appropriate the World Bank. Progress on
mutual market opening, and other priorities in the context of the Community'
s external policy,
should also be taken account of.
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The amounts of the assistance shall comply with the annual budget ceilings established by the
Community’ s Financial Perspective, and with the rules and the agreed ceilings of the Guarantee
Fund Mechanism for external actions, in particular the reserve designed to provide for the
provisioning of the Fund, and in the case of grants with the relevant annual budget appropriations.
At least once a year and when submitting a new proposal for macro-financial assistance the
Commission will provide detailed information on the reserve for guarantees (and the corresponding
residual lending and loan guarantee capacity), details on total outstandings and past interventions
under the Guarantee Fund mechanism, as well as on the remaining budget resources available for
macro-financial assistance in the form of grants.
The Economic and Financial Committee will examine regularly the use of macro-financial
assistance for third countries taking also into account the situation regarding other Community
initiatives. The Commission will provide an annual report to the Council and to the Parliament on
the implementation of macro-financial assistance (which shall include a systematic evaluation of the
effectiveness of conditionality, an assessment of actual burdensharing and private sector
involvement, the implementation of the adjustment programme, and the contribution of macrofinancial assistance to the implementation of the economic and stabilisation programmes of the
beneficiary countries on the basis of transparent performance indicators). The Commission services
are invited to report regularly to the Economic and Financial Committee on the state of play of
macro-financial assistance."
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The Council took note of a Commission presentation on minimum standards on airline insurance.
The Council also took note of the Commission’s position regarding state guarantee schemes for
airline insurance: these schemes should not be extended beyond 31 October 2002. As of that date,
any scheme still in operation must be notified to the Commission for consideration under normal
state aid procedures.
A number of delegations, however, spoke in favour of an extension for national guarantee schemes,
citing global competition grounds as justification for such an extension.
Regarding proposals for a mutual fund (notably that in the context of the ICAO), the Council
invited the EFC to continue its considerations on this issue.
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The Council approved an updated Common understanding on economic issues in respect of Russia
prepared by EFC as a contribution to the preparations for the EU-Russia Troika meeting on
17 October and the EU-Russia summit on 11 November.
The common understanding provides a consensus view from the EU side on the key economic
issues which could inform discussion with Russia. This update welcomes progress on macroeconomic stabilisation and a good start on structural reforms, but calls for further work to improve
market functioning and encourage higher levels of investment. It encourages further pursuit of
reforms necessary to become eligible for WTO membership.
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Following a request from the United Kingdom Delegation, the Council discussed the
possibilities of EU financing contributions for the HIPC initiative with regard to future
negotiations within the IMF.
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In the margins of the Council, Ministers of Economy and Finance had a first exchange of
views on the implementation of the coordination of economic policies.
Ministers gave the Commission feed back on its current work on reinforcing economic policy
co-ordination, ahead of an expected Commission proposal later in the year, responding to a
request of the Barcelona European Council.
-
Over lunch, Ministers met their colleagues from the EFTA Countries and discussed Financial
Services and Energy taxation issues.
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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The Council adopted a Decision authorising Sweden to apply a differentiated rate of energy tax to
alkylate based petrol for two-stroke engines in accordance with Article 8(4) of Directive
92/81/EEC.
The requested energy tax reduction is foreseen for alkylate based petrol for tow-stroke engines
(Motorbränslen – Specialbensin för motordrivna arbetsredskap, Tvåtaktsbränsle) that fulfils the
criteria of Swedish Standard (SS) 15 54 61(2nd issue) as well as the standards established in
Council Directive 98/70/EC. This Decision shall expire on 30 June 2008.
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The Council took note of the EU inventory on the protection of civil populations against NRBC
terrorist attacks and authorised its transmission to NATO for information purposes with a view to
an exchange of information on the activities of the EU and NATO in the field of Civil Protection
and with regard to NRBC terrorism.
The inventory provides an overview of the range of civil protection measures of the European
Union. The measures include instruments to cover both possible internal action, i.e. civil protection
within the EU as well as possible external action, i.e. civil protection outside the EU.
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The Council agreed on the position to be taken by the European Community within the EU-Slovak
Republic Association Council with regard to the establishment of a Joint Consultative Committee.
The Association Council will decide by written procedure.
The Committee would be responsible for promoting dialogue and co-operation between regional
and local authorities in the Community and the Slovak Republic. It would be composed of
representatives of the Committee of the Regions of the European Communities and representatives
of the Slovak Liaison Committee for Co-operation with the Committee of the Regions.
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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The Council adopted the mandate authorising the Commission to negotiate further mutual
concessions for processed agricultural products with the 10 associated countries from Central and
Eastern Europe (CCEE) within a second round of liberalisation negotiations. In view of the
progress made in the enlargement process and in order to prepare the CCEE for the full opening of
their markets upon accession, the Commission proposed to increase further the degree of trade
liberalisation in this sector.
It is recalled that the Europe Agreements concluded with the CCEE contain a specific protocol
which lays down the trade arrangements applicable to the processed agricultural products listed
therein. The protocols provide for the possibility to extend the list of products covered, to amend
the custom duties and to increase or abolish tariff quotas. A first round of liberalisation talks has
taken place and, as a result, agreements with six CCEE have already been concluded in 2001/2002.
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The Council adopted the position to be taken by the Community and the Member States in the
meeting of the General Council of the WTO on 15/16 October 2002 concerning the approval of the
accession of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to the WTO.
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The Council adopted a regulation imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of synthetic
staple fibres of polyesters originating in Belarus and extending the definitive anti-dumping duty to
imports of polyester filament tow. The rate of the definitive anti-dumping duty applicable to the net
free-at-Community-frontier price of the products, before duty, is fixed at 21 %.
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The Council took note of information on the successful completion of the liquidation of the
International Natural Rubber Agreement (INRA) and the International Natural Rubber Organisation
(INRO). It also agreed on a letter to be sent to the former Chairman of the International Natural
Rubber Council (INRC).
The INRC decided on 30 September 1999 to terminate the International Natural Rubber Agreement
with effect from 13 October 1999. The session of the INRC on 25/26 July 2001 in Kuala Lumpur
agreed on the final liquidation procedures for the Agreement and the Organisation. Since then, the
funds in the buffer stocks and administrative accounts have been returned to members and the
INRO has been closed down.
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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It is recalled in this context that the Council decided on 22 July 2002 for the Community to join the
International Rubber Study Group, which, since 1944, serves as the forum for the discussion of
matters affecting the supply of and demand for synthetic and natural rubber between natural rubber
exporting and importing countries.
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The Council adopted Decisions amending existing decisions on the conclusion of the agreements on
mutual recognition between the European Community and Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand
and the United States of America.
The amendments to decisions 1998/508/EC, 1998/556/EC, 2001/747/EC, 1998/509/EC and
1998/78/EC empower the Commission to take all necessary measures for the operation of these
agreements, after consulting a special committee appointed by the Council.
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The Council adopted a regulation amending regulation 2505/96/EC on Community tariff quotas for
certain agricultural and industrial products, opening quotas at zero rates of duty for specified
volumes of certain industrial products from 1 July 2002.
The regulation is aimed at ensuring that the needs of the Community processing industry are met
under favourable conditions while avoiding any disturbance to the markets.
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The Council adopted a Decision, following a proposal from the German Government,
appointing Mr Michael SCHNEIDER as an alternate member of the Committee; of the Regions
in place of Mr Werner Ballhausen for the remainder of his term of office, which expires on 25
January 2006.
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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The Council adopted a Decision, following a proposal from the Netherlands Government, as
full members of the Committee of the Regions, Mr H.F.M. EVERS in place of Mr Jan
Tindemans and Ms C.W. JACOBS in place Mr H.J.M. Kemperman.
As alternate members of the Committee of the Regions Mr P. JANSEN in place of
Ms C.W.Jacobs and Mr G.D. DALES in place of Mr A.M.C.A. Hooijmaijers, for the remainder
of their terms of office, which run until 25 January 2006.
________________________
12592/02 (Presse 298)
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