The European Commission has decided to propose to the French Government to remove the unlimited State guarantee that EdF enjoys under the so-called EPIC status and to charge a premium for not yet redeemed bonds issued by EdF with an explicit State guarantee.

On behalf of the European Economic Community, Commissioner Abel Matutes announced today that the Commission plans to offer in the United States Italian Lire 100 billion of notes due March 31, 1995.

We have heard them say that they will bring overseas jobs back to the U.S.; they will stop borrowing their own money from China and put an end to enriching the Arabian princes and sheikhs and so on.

Whereas the charging of stamp duty by a Member State on securities from other Member States introduced into or issued within its territory is contrary to the concept of a common market whose characteristics are those of a domestic market ; whereas, in addition, it has become evident that the retention of stamp duty on the issue of securities in respect of internal loans and on the introduction or issue on the market of a Member State of foreign securities is both undesirable from the economic point of view and inconsistent with current developments in the tax laws of the Member States in this field;