Meeting Summary: 7 May 2014

The Committee considered the following documents:

Undeclared work

(Reasoned Opinion for debate on the Floor of the House)
The Commission defines undeclared work as “any paid activities that are lawful as regards their nature but not declared to public authorities, taking account of differences in the regulatory systems of Member States”. All forms of undeclared work reduce the tax base and diminish public revenue derived from income taxes and social security contributions. In addition, undeclared work is often equated with precarious forms of employment, poor or unsafe working conditions, and unfair competition. The Commission has proposed a draft Decision which would establish an EU "Platform" — a formal mechanism at EU level comprising national enforcement authorities designated by each Member State, the Commission, and observers (including EU social partners) — to strengthen cooperation in preventing and deterring undeclared work. The Platform would promote the exchange of information and best practice, develop expertise and analysis, and coordinate cross-border operational action. The Commission considers that existing cooperation between Member States to tackle undeclared work is patchy and piecemeal. It has therefore proposed that participation in the EU Platform should be mandatory for all Member States. The Government questions whether the EU has competence to require mandatory participation and whether the action proposed is consistent with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. We ask the Government to provide a more detailed analysis of the scope of the legal base proposed by the Commission, as well as a more up-to-date assessment of the size of the shadow or informal economy within the UK and the significance of any cross-border dimension in tackling undeclared work. We share the Government’s subsidiarity concerns as we consider that the Commission’s own Impact Assessment raises serious questions as to the benefits of action at EU level and appears to undermine the case for mandatory participation. Accordingly, we recommend that the House should send a Reasoned Opinion to the Presidents of the EU institutions before the expiry of the deadline on 9 June 2014.

Rule of Law in EU Member States

(For debate on the floor of the House)
We are recommending for debate a new Commission Communication on a new EU Framework to strengthen the Rule of Law. Article 7 TEU sets out the mechanisms by which the EU’s founding values are protected from breaches by Member States, including respect for the rule of law. Because the use of Article 7 can lead to the loss of Member States’ rights under the Treaties, the voting threshold within the Council to instigate proceedings is set very high. As such it has never been activated. However, Article 258 infraction proceedings have been used where breaches of EU law have undermined the rule of law. In this Communication, the Commission reminds Members States of its role as “guardian of the Treaties, refers to concerns from the European Parliament and from Member States that the current Article 7 system is not effective and sets out a new framework in which it would take on responsibility for collecting information; issuing a recommendation to the Member State in breach; and monitoring that State’s response. The Government is opposed to this proposal saying it would duplicate existing mechanisms and undermine the role of Member States. We agree that any deficiencies in the current system should be driven by the political will of the Member States through the Council, and not by the Commission. We ask the Minister to comment on a number of additional questions and concerns, set out in full in our Report. We further draw this Communication to the attention of the Foreign Affairs and Justice Committees and the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and recommend it for debate on the floor of the House.

Diplomatic and consular protection of EU citizens in third countries

We are this week asking for further information on a Council Directive held under scrutiny since January 2012. Under Council Decision 95/553/EC, EU citizens are entitled to protection when abroad from another Member State’s diplomatic mission if the country of which they are a citizen does not have a mission there.  Which Member State has responsibility for unrepresented nationals is determined by centrally agreed allocations to ensure no one is left without protection. The system has worked well on both a small scale and in dealing with serious crises. The Commission, however, has persisted in pursuing proposals which would entail the EU providing a full range of consular services. The UK Government and this Committee have consistently held the view that consular services should remain the preserve of Member States who provide a competent, cooperative and accountable service, and that efforts by the Commission to expand into this area should be resisted. The Minister now tells us that the Greek Presidency is pushing to make progress on the dossier and that the Council is likely to accept a revised version of the text.  We ask the Minister to ensure that a public version of the text is deposited prior to any Council vote with an explanation of: how the Government’s initial concerns have been addressed; in which ways the revised proposal “does not cross UK red lines”; whether the language used is now consistent with previous Decisions; and if his concerns around the financial procedures have been addressed. We also draw this matter to the attention of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  

Other documents reported

We are also reporting on documents relating to:

• Business, Innovation and Skills: Protection of trade secrets;
• Cabinet Office: The post 215 Hyogo Framework for Action: managing risks to achieve resilience;
• Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Reliability of checks on agricultural expenditure; EU accession to CITES
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Citizens’ dialogues; Restrictive measures against the regime in Myanmar/Burma; European Neighbourhood Policy;
• HM Revenue and Customs: Customs: mutual assistance;
• HM Treasury: Financial management: audit;
• Transport: Civil aviation: passenger protection; Cableway installations;

The Committee’s Forty-eighth Report and Forty-ninth Report (covering the Reasoned Opinion exclusively) will be published next week. The Committee’s Forty-seventh Report will be published shortly, covering: Detention and supervision of EU citizens; An EU development and cooperation results framework; Road safety: eCall; Insolvency Proceedings; Accession of Afghanistan to the WTO; Conditional access services; Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol; European Citizen’s Initiative: water and sanitation; Organic food production; EU restrictive measures again Iran; EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process; Elements of an EU Maritime Joint Security Strategy; Free movement and public documents;  the EU and Georgia: the EU and Moldova; the EU and Ukraine: restrictive measures; Financial Benchmarks; Taxation; EU Return Policy; 2014 EU Justice Scoreboard; Data protection and EU-US data exchange; Road transport: dimensions and weights; Maritime safety; and Integrating labour markets.

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