COUNCIL OF MINISTERS ADOPTS NEW RULES OF PROCEDURE.

At its meeting on May 17, the General Affairs Council of Ministers is poised to adopt without debate new rules of procedurefollowing the compromise reached on May 12 by the Committee of Member States' Permanent Representatives to the EU (COREPER). An initial series of amendments had already been adopted at the Council meeting of December 7, 1998, following the recommendations of the Legal Service, with the aim of rapidly adapting the regulation in the run-up to the implementation of the third and final phase of Economic and Monetary Union, and to clarify in particular the Council of Ministers' relations with the European Central Bank.The final discussions at COREPER were devoted for the most part to the provisions concerning enhanced cooperation and the...