European Union finance ministers have committed themselves to ensuring that a meeting of EU leaders next month puts the Lisbon strategy for competitiveness back on track.
Speaking after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels yesterday, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said there was agreement that governments must focus on implementing the strategy rather than setting new targets. "We have consistently given lip-service to structural reform but the United States still seems to be moving ahead of us in a number of areas," he said.
He declined to comment on yesterday's rise of the euro against the dollar but Austria's Mr Karl-Heinz Grasser dismissed as "minor" the effect on growth of a further appreciation. "The world recovery is going on. This is what is most important," he said. The euro rose above $1.27 yesterday before easing slightly later to around $1.27.
The ministers adopted a report on Ireland's stability programme without criticism but warned France that it may need to take further measures to bring its budget deficit below 3 per cent of GDP by 2005. "Under plausible macroeconomic and budgetary assumptions, the adjustment path in the programme seems to be insufficient to eliminate the excessive deficit in 2005," they said.
The ministers rejected an attempt by Switzerland to link an agreement on tax savings held abroad to exemptions from the Schengen border agreement. Mr McCreevy said that the EU wanted the agreement, which is part of an effort to combat tax evasion, agreed as soon as possible. "The unanimous, strong message from all member-states is that this has to be concluded and there is no linkage to other issues," he said.
Mr McCreevy said that he expected a number of countries to nominate candidates to replace Mr Domingo Solans on the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB). Ireland has nominated Mr Michael Tutty, whose term as vice-president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) ends in October and Belgium has nominated Mr Peter Praet, a director of its central bank.
Mr McCreevy dismissed concerns expressed by government sources in a large member-state that appointing a candidate from a small state could upset the balance on the board between large and small states.
