European Scrutiny Committee Meeting Summary: 11 February 2015
11 February 2015
European Scrutiny Committee met on Wednesday 11 February 2015
The Committee took evidence from the Leader of the House on its outstanding debate recommendations.
- Parliament TV: Watch EU Scrutiny inquiry: follow-up
- Inquiry: EU Scrutiny inquiry: follow-up
- European Scrutiny Committee outstanding debate recommendations
The Committee considered the following documents
Ports
For some time we have been concerned about a draft Regulation to establish a regulatory framework to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of all EU ports, on which there is an outstanding debate recommendation. A General Approach on the draft Regulation was agreed in Council in October 2014, with the UK abstaining on scrutiny grounds. The Minister now writes to confirm that that the European Parliament is now turning its attention to this issue. The Government had previously informed of us of intention to lobby MEPs regarding the draft Regulation, and the Minister explains that he accordingly went to Brussels on 19 January to speak to key UK MEPs in the European Conservatives and Reformists and Socialists and Democrats (S&D) political groupings. Regarding the outstanding debate in the House on the draft Regulation, the Minister notes that we will have the opportunity to ask the Leader of the House about this, during our evidence session with him today. We respond by asking the Minister to also personally press strongly within the Government machine for an urgent debate on this matter.
Integrating labour markets
We consider a draft Regulation seeking to improve the operation of EURES, a network of public employment services encompassing Member States, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland which comprises an internet portal on which job vacancies, applications and CVs are loaded. The Government told us that UK job vacancies accounted for more than 60% of the vacancies on the portal, as unlike many other Member States, the UK had, until recently, loaded all vacancies held by Jobcentre Plus onto the EURES portal. It anticipated that a stronger obligation on all Member States to advertise their vacancies on the EURES portal would rectify this imbalance. The Government’s position has evolved during the course of negotiations. Whilst continuing to support the proposal to require all Member States to share their vacancies with EURES, the UK has also sought to ensure that “employers have a choice over whether they advertise their vacancy in the UK or EU-wide.” In July 2014, the Prime Minister pledged to “massively restrict” the number of UK job vacancies on the EURES portal.
A General Approach on this proposal was agreed by the Council last December which would appear substantially to dilute the obligation to advertise all job vacancies available through Member States’ public employment services on EURES. We ask the Minister whether she considers that the introduction of new provisions on employer flexibility are sufficiently robust to withstand a challenge based on the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality. We also ask her to provide examples of the type of job vacancies that the UK would no longer be bound to advertise on EURES on the grounds that they form part of active labour market policies. Meanwhile, we retain the draft Regulation under scrutiny and look forward to receiving further updates.
Transparent pricing of medicines
The 1989 “Transparency Directive” establishes minimum procedural safeguards to ensure that national cost-containment measures to regulate the pricing of medicines and determine whether they qualify for public funding are taken in an open and transparent manner and do not constitute an unwarranted restriction on the free movement of goods. The Commission considers that while the 1989 Directive has helped to create “a basic culture of transparency” in the pricing and reimbursement mechanisms developed by Member States, it has not kept pace with new challenges. In March 2012 the Commission therefore proposed a new directive which retained the core principles of the 1989 Directive but proposed some new elements, including shorter time limits for pricing and reimbursement decisions, intended to give quicker access to medicines and to allow innovative pharmaceutical companies to reap the full benefits of market exclusivity for their newly patented medicines. Discussions in Council proved difficult, and in March 2013, a new Directive was proposed which, amongst other changes, proposed longer time limits for pricing and reimbursement decisions. The proposals have now been withdrawn on the grounds that there is “no foreseeable agreement”, and we therefore clear them from scrutiny.
Other documents
We are also reporting on documents relating to:
- Cabinet Office: Public and International Procurement; A Statute for a European Foundation;
- Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: International Organisation for Vine and Wine;
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office: EU Military Advisory Mission in the Central African Republic; Partnership and Co-operation Agreements: Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore; Ukraine: EU restrictive measures;
- International Development: EU humanitarian assistance;
- Transport: Inland waterways: freight.
The Committee’s 32nd Report of Session 2014-15 will be published soon, covering: EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; Investment Plan for Europe; Opening up education: innovative teaching and learning through new technologies; Single-member private; limited liability companies; European Private Company; Fisheries: catch quotas and effort limitation for 2015; EU Special Representative for Kosovo; EU Special Representative for Afghanistan; EU Special Representative for South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia; EU Special Representative for the Sahel; EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa; EU Special Representative for Human Rights; EU-Turkmenistan relations; Forced labour; Financial management; Financial services: money market funds; Protecting the EU’s financial interests; Financial services: benchmarks; Stability and Growth Pact; Regulation of medical devices.