Committee Work Round-Up: October-November 2011

The House of Lords' EU Sub-Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs and International Trade continues its inquiry into the euro-area crisis. The Sub-Committee has been closely scrutinising the quick-paced events and has heard evidence from:

• The German Ambassador to the UK, Georg Boomgaarden;
• Chair of the European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, Sharon Bowles MEP;
• Chief Economist of Citi, Professor Willem Butler;
• Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban MP; and
• London School of Economics, Professor, Iain Begg.

In addition to the evidence sessions conducted by the Sub-Committee, the EU Select Committee has heard evidence from the Minister for Europe, The Rt Hon David Lidington MP, on the October European Council and Euro-Summit meetings. The Select Committee will also be discussing with commentators the on-going financial and economic problems throughout Europe. Members of the public are able to attend this session or watch it live online via the Parliament TV website. The evidence taken at all public sessions is made available on the Committee's websites, both as videos and transcripts.

The Economic and Financial Affairs Sub-Committee will be publishing their report on the euro-area crisis by the end of the year. It will focus on providing a snapshot of the situation whilst looking ahead to potential ramifications for the UK and other Member States and how the crisis might be solved and others be avoided in the future.

Other current work includes the Select Committee's inquiry into the EU's Financial Framework for 2014-2020, which will be holding evidence sessions in January. The Sub-Committees will be scrutinising all of the EU's detailed spending packages for the Financial Framework over the coming months. The Select Committee has also issued a Call for Evidence, and all interested parties are welcome to respond. Their report will be published in early 2012.

It is expected that the report on the Channel Tunnel by the Sub-Commitee on the Internal Market, Energy and Transport will also be published by the end of  the year. Other Sub-Committee inquiries centre on EU military capabilities, the EU's policy on criminal procedure, and the EU's contribution to the modernisation of higher education.

The Sub-Committees scrutinise all important EU proposals, and have recently considered the three Directives on the Common European Asylum System, the Commission's Proposal to distribute food to needy persons, and the proposed Directive on energy efficiency.

The details of the work of each individual Committee are available in our November Newsletter and on their individual web-pages.