I’VE spent most of this week in Brussels – my third visit this year – and while I was engaged in the usual wide range of contact meetings, another forum was taking place at which, it was good to know, we weren’t being discussed.

EU member state senior finance officials met to discuss the latest developments in the Code of Conduct for Business Taxation, and we were not on the agenda.

Ever since it became clear that Guernsey corporate tax legislation would be under scrutiny in the Code Group, regular representations have been made to the UK Government and the European Commission, which plays a vital behind-the-scenes coordinating role in the group’s deliberations.

Avoiding the agenda was good news, and we are confident that new ways forward are open to us to inform the group of our concerns before the legislation is placed under the spotlight.

The Crown Dependencies are working very closely together on our future corporate tax strategy. The three chief ministers met, at my invitation, for breakfast before the BIC summit in Jersey last week, and we are making meaningful progress together.

Our political system means we have had to operate slightly differently from Jersey and the Isle of Man, but I think that our response on this occasion has been stronger as a result.

Our key focus throughout the next few months and beyond will be on securing improved access to European markets, and our corporate tax system is an important part of this objective.

Our hectic schedule included meetings with high-ranking officials in the European Commission’s tax and internal market directorates, senior MEPs from the leading European political parties and the Swiss Ambassador to the EU, Jacques de Watteville.

It marked a major progression in consolidating the excellent relations that Guernsey is actively developing with influential contacts in Brussels, and extended the range of policy makers and politicians that Guernsey can count on for support.

The chief executive and I also had a fruitful discussion with German liberal MEP Wolf Klinz, chairman of a special committee of the European Parliament on the financial crisis, CRIS, and a highly respected member of the Economic and Financial Affairs Committee, ECON, main committee for EU financial services legislation, who stressed to us the importance of our strategy in Brussels. Direct contact is the best way I know to do business and to dispel potential myth and understanding.

Mr Klinz wholeheartedly encouraged us to continue to emphasise the island’s valuable role in the European economy.

There was much praise from all for what has been achieved so far by Guernsey, but this is by no means a one-off.

We will have to maintain the momentum and build on this initial success.

The advice received on this trip was encouraging and underlined the need and support for a permanent Brussels presence, which, I was delighted to see, also drew strong support from States members during the States Strategic Plan debate.