THE RULES of a new exchange rate mechanism for EU currencies which do not join the euro are to be finalised during the Irish Presidency, according to the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn.
"The definitive draft document on the new ERM and the stability pact will be produced during the Irish Presidency," Mr Quinn told reporters in Florence.
An informal meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin in September will attempt to make the necessary political decisions on the shape of the new currency regime, he said.
It is hoped that a final text could then be agreed at the December summit in Dublin. The new ERM type mechanism is designed to limit currency fluctuations between the euro and those EU currencies that remain outside it.
In addition a "stability pact is planned to ensure that the financial and monetary discipline imposed by members in advance of the establishment of the euro continues afterwards.
Mr Quinn yesterday met the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner, Mr Yves Thibault de Silguy, to discuss the agenda facing finance ministers during Ireland's presidency.
He said afterwards that there may be an extra meeting of European finance ministers in September to deal with the heavy workload of the next six months.
The two also discussed the proposed EU "Confidence Pact", which would cover a wide range of measures designed to stimulate employment.
The pact would include commitments to meeting the stringent economic criteria for economic and monetary union, and to directing the EU's economic policies visibly towards alleviating unemployment.
The Commission President, Mr Jacques Santer, is the main force behind the drive for such a pact. His aim is to establish a "social partnership" model, similar to that operating in Ireland, through which employers, unions and governments would agree economic measures.
The Commission proposes that unions would agree to pay restraint and more flexible working patterns in exchange for the introduction of training, apprenticeship and education schemes.
The Commission is also proposing the insertion of a chapter on employment into the EU Treaty.
According to Mr Quinn, he and the socialist ministers in other member states want this employment chapter to establish new institutional structures to deal with unemployment.
The EU's socialist and social democratic parties say such a structure is necessary because European economic policy is currently dominated by the need to meet the Maastricht criteria, which demand low budget deficits, inflation and interest rates.
European trade unions and many MEPs complain that the pursuit of these objectives has a negative effect on employment.
A new EU employment committee, for example, similar to the monetary committee, could set labour market standards for different EU member states. This would mean that having healthy budget figures would not be the sole criterion of economic success, and that increasing employment would become a higher priority.