Meeting Summary: 15 October 2014
16 October 2014
The European Scrutiny Committee met on Wednesday 15 October 2014
Ports
We have considered the draft Regulation on Ports a number of times since its publication, and in June we recommended that it be debated on the floor of the House. The Government instead scheduled the document for debate in European Committee A on 3 September, but this Committee was adjourned without debating the motion. We deplored the Government’s failure to reschedule the debate before the Transport Council on 8 October. In the event, that Transport Council agreed a general approach text for this proposal. We now consider this revised text and recommend that the general approach be debated alongside the original proposal, and that this debate should be used to determine the approach that the Government should take in upcoming trilogue negotiations on the general approach. Given the importance of the issue, we emphasise that this debate should take place on the floor of the House.
Ukraine
This week we consider a number of documents relating to Ukraine, the first being a Council Decision regarding the application of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. It includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). Certain parts of the agreement were signed in March, and the remainder in June. Provisional application of the Agreement has been authorised. This week we consider a Council Decision which delays the provisional application of the trade-related provisions until 31 December 2015. In voting to agree this decision, the Minister has overridden scrutiny, which he apologises for. As the Minister says, the decision is “clearly…politically important”. It also raises issues relating to EU competence. We therefore recommend this Council Decision for debate on the floor of the House.
We also consider the most recent EU restrictive measures in response to the situation in Ukraine. On 3 September we recommended what was then the latest round be debated. However, given that a further round, agreed on 8 September, have now been introduced, we rescind this recommendation. These measures subject a further 24 individuals to the asset freeze and travel ban measures already in place (and extend the effect of these measures for a further six months) and expand the pre-existing package of economic sanctions against Russia. We clear them from scrutiny, but suggest that they are relevant to the floor of the House debate on the EU-Ukraine Association agreement.
Subsidiarity and Proportionality and the Commission’s relations with national parliaments
This week we consider the Commission’s 2013 Annual Report on Subsidiarity and Proportionality. We note that this Report has been produced against a background of increasing discussion about the role of national parliaments. In the past few years, a number of national parliaments have made suggestions about how their role could be strengthened, and our 2013 Report on Reforming the European Scrutiny System in the House of Commons also made a number of relevant recommendations. We also look at the 2013 Annual Report on the Commission’s relations with national parliaments, which focuses on the informal “political dialogue” between the Commission and national parliaments (whereas the Report on Subsidiarity and Proportionality focuses on the formal reasoned opinion mechanism). We recommend both of these Reports for debate on the floor of the House. This debate should cover not only the content of these two Reports, but also the wider context surrounding this issue.
Financial management
This week we also consider the Commission Report for 2013 on the fight against fraud, which evaluates efforts taken by the Commission and Member States to counter fraud and irregularities against EU spending in 2013. As is our usual practice, we recommend this document for debate in European Committee B, alongside the European Court of Auditors’ annual audit reports on the general budget and the European Development Fund, once they are available.
Other documents
We are also reporting on documents relating to:
- Business, Innovation and Skills: Establishing a European Research Area; Global Navigation Satellite System; Accession of the Seychelles to the World Trade Organisation; Undeclared work; Insolvency proceedings; Developing an EU Urban Agenda; Network Information Security across the EU; Reforms to the EU’s trade mark regime;
- Cabinet Office: Interoperability as a means for modernising the public sector: the ISA2 programme;
- Culture, Media and Sport; The Telecommunications Single Market;
- Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: EU-Russia: temporary exceptional support measures for agricultural producers; International Organisation for Vine and Wine; Conservation of wild migratory species;
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office: European security and defence: following up the December 2013 European Defence Council; The EU and the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova; EU military operation in the Central African Republic; EU restrictive measures against the Republic of Guinea; The EU and the Horn of Africa: Regional Maritime Capacity Building; Appointment of the EU Commission; EU Decentralised Agencies;
- Home Office: The UK’s 2014 block opt-out decision; Combat terrorism; Forced labour;
- HMRC: Customs;
- International Development: Economic Partnership Agreement with the West Africa Region;
- Justice: Hague Convention;
- Transport: Maritime Surveillance;
- Treasury: Financial services: supervision; Financial services: securities financing transactions; EU staff pensions; EU Solidarity Fund; Financial services: Long-term financing, including crowdfunding; Terrorist financing; Taxation;
- Work and Pensions: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Green Employment Initiative
The Committee’s 12th Report of Session 2014-15 was published on 22 September, covering: Organic food production; Ports; EU General Budget 2015: Draft Budget; Network Information Security Across the EU; Undeclared work; Safety standards for fishermen; Road safety; Data protection in the EU and EU-US Data Exchange; EU development and external assistance policies and their implementation in 2013; European Neighbourhood Policy and Lebanon; EU Lebanon and EU-Tunisia relations; The EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah Crossing Point; EU civilian CSDP mission in Ukraine; Relocation of the European Police College; EU visa policy.