December 15, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 10, 1423

BRUSSELS, Dec 14: Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, the firmest opponent of planned EU savings tax laws, is optimistic about the chances of a deal and does not rule out an accord in January, his spokesman said on Saturday.

The EU on Wednesday failed to clinch a deal due to firm opposition from financial strongholds Luxembourg and Austria, both due to lose their treasured bank secrecy under the plan.

But spokesman Guy Schuller said Juncker thought the chances of a EU deal had improved.

His feeling is that the 15 (member states) could get very close to an agreement on January 21, he said, referring to a planned meeting of finance ministers to discuss the issue.

Luxembourg does not exclude a deal on January 21. This will depend on proposals from the EU presidency, but we were already not far from it last Wednesday, he said.—Reuters