Meeting Summary: 29 October 2014
30 October 2014
The European Scrutiny Committee met on Wednesday 29 October.
The Committee took oral evidence from Lord Hill, the new Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. It also considered the following documents:
The UK’s 2014 block opt-out decision
The Commission has published a provisional list of pre-Lisbon police and criminal justice measures which will be subject to the full jurisdiction of the Court of Justice and the Commission’s enforcement powers from 1 December 2014. This list also establishes the measures which will cease to apply to the UK from that date. The Minister informs us that the Commission intends to publish a revised list, so, in anticipation, we clear the current list from scrutiny. We also take the opportunity to highlight that the Government is yet to provide us with Explanatory Memoranda on two draft Decisions relevant to the UK’s block opt-out. In light of the fact that the UK’s block opt-out takes effect in just over a month, we consider that this delay is “wholly unacceptable”. We request that the Minister (Karen Bradley) provides Parliament with a detailed explanation of the reasons for the delay by the end of the week. If she does not do so, we expect her to provide these reasons before us in person.
EU enlargement
This year’s Commission Communication on EU enlargement strategy and challenges 2014-15 was published on 10 October 2014, alongside the 2014 Country Progress Reports on Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo (all of which are candidate or aspirant countries to the EU). The Minister for Europe explains that, the Government is only able to provide an initial position on the Progress Reports, as relevant developments may take place between now and December, but does not foresee any major decisions being taken then by the General Affairs or European Councils on the accession progress of individual enlargement countries. The Government intends to update us on its positions on the individual Reports before the GAC meeting. We therefore retain the documents under scrutiny.
We also consider a Commission Report on “Albania’s Progress in the Fight Against Corruption and Organised Crime and in the Judicial Reform”, which was carried out to enable the June General Affairs Council to decide whether Albania was to be granted Candidate Status. We had asked the Government to provide an “unqualified statement of the Government’s position” prior to that the Council meeting. It did not; and Albania was granted Candidate Status. Having taken evidence from the Minister in July, we now clear the Commission Report, but also explain why we still consider that “a highly important and controversial decision escaped prior scrutiny for no good reason.”
The Commission’s 2013 Annual Report on Financial Assistance for EU Enlargement considers the implementation of the main EU financial instrument which supports prospective EU countries to reform towards EU standards. We consider this Report this week and clear it from scrutiny, but in doing so we also draw it to the attention of the House.
Regulation of medical devices
We consider two draft Regulations which propose significant changes to the existing EU regulatory framework on medical devices. The Government broadly welcomes the draft Regulations, but has two concerns: firstly, it considers that introducing additional pre-market scrutiny of higher risk devices by a central committee of experts would be ineffective, overly bureaucratic, and delay patient access to life changing medical technologies; and secondly, it questions the proposed removal of an existing exemption for “in house” devices manufactured and used within the same health institution, which it considers would substantially increase costs within the NHS. The Minister informs us that the Italian Presidency intends to seek a common position on the Presidency compromise text before the end of the year, and invites us to lift our scrutiny reserve so that the Government can support the text if it meets its negotiating objectives. We decline this invitation, but comment that when further information is available on the content of a possible Presidency compromise text, we will be willing to consider granting a scrutiny waiver. We also ask the Minister for further information about the status of the common position that he refers to.
Financial services: payment services
We also consider a draft Regulation which would regulate interchange fees that are applied to debit and credit card transactions within the EU and cap the level of interchange fee that could be applied to a card transaction. We consider this draft Regulation alongside an Opinion from the European Central Bank on these proposals. The Government tells us that is has achieved improvements during the negotiation of this draft Regulation, and we therefore grant a conditional scrutiny waiver to allow it to support a Council General Approach.
Other documents
We are also reporting on documents relating to:
- Business, Innovation and Skills/Culture, Media and Sport: Network Information Security;
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office: EU civilian CSDP mission in Ukraine: launch and status of mission; EU relations with Belarus;
- Transport: Greenhouse gas intensity of petrol and diesel fuels; Non-road mobile machinery;
- Treasury: Financial services: insurance mediation
The Committee’s 15th Report of Session 2014-15 will be published shortly, covering: EU support for rehabilitation following the earthquake in Haiti; Integrated Border Management Assistance Mission in Libya; Network Information Security across the EU; Handbook on marriages of convenience; Veterinary medicinal products; Medicated animal feed; EU-Algeria Relations; EU restrictive measures against the Syrian regime; Appointment of the EU Commission; The working of the comitology committees in 2013; European Crime Prevention Network; Road safety; Working time: inland waterway transport; Financial services: money market funds; Financial services: benchmarks; Financial management.