European Scrutiny Committee Meeting Summary: 11 March 2015
13 March 2015
European Scrutiny Committee met on Wednesday 11 March 2015
The Committee considered the following documents:
European Semester 2015
The European Semester is an EU-level framework for coordinating and assessing annually Member States’ structural reforms and fiscal/budgetary policy and for monitoring and addressing macroeconomic imbalances. We recommended the first stage of the European Semester for debate in European Committee B, and this debate took place last week. As the second stage of the Semester the Commission has published its Communication on an assessment of growth challenges, prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances, and results of in-depth reviews of Member States’ economic situations. It is accompanied by Commission Staff Working Documents giving Country Reports for all Member States, apart from Greece. The reports contain an in-depth review of macroeconomic imbalances (where applicable), and an assessment of Member States’ progress in addressing their 2014 Country-Specific Recommendations. The Government broadly welcomes the Commission Communication and, with some reservations, the UK Country Report. We recommend that these two documents be debated in European Committee B, together with the Commission’s draft 2015 Country-Specific Recommendations, once available.
Strategic guidelines for EU justice and Home Affairs and the renewal of the EU Internal Security Strategy
In June 2014, the European Council agreed the latest set of guidelines for the development of EU justice and home affairs policies and legislation. Two Commission Communications – one covering EU justice policy, the other home affairs policy – were the only publically accessible available documents available in advance of the European Council adopting the conclusions. We recommended these documents for debate in April 2014, and this debate remains unscheduled. The Minister now informs us that the EU Internal Security Strategy agreed in 2010 has now expired and sets out the steps for agreeing a new strategy; the Commission Communication on the successor to strategy is expected to be published in April, when Parliament will be dissolved, and the new strategy will be formally agreed at the June 2015 Justice and Home Affairs Council. This timing means that, due to the election, neither this Committee, nor its successor, will have the opportunity to scrutinise the Strategy before discussions on its content have concluded. We accept that the Government cannot be held responsible for the timing of decision-making in Brussels. However it was clear that the new Strategy would be agreed in mid-June, and this makes the Government’s decision not to schedule the debate we recommended on the strategic guidelines all the more deplorable and indefensible. We consider that if the Government wishes to breathe life into its commitment to “reduce the democratic deficit over EU matters”, it should now schedule this debate.
Rule of Law in the EU
The Government has written to us to update us on the proposed Rule of Law Framework, which is intended to better protect the rule of law in all Member States by addressing and resolving situations where there is such a threat to the rule of law. We recommended the Commission Communication proposing this Framework for debate on the floor of the House last May. This debate has still not been arranged, which is particularly disappointing given that, as the Government acknowledges, the issue of rule of law monitoring and compliance remains a live one; there is the prospect of further dialogue in the Council in 2015 and we agree that it would be “complacent to imagine that the Commission will not try to take further action in relation to the rule of law in future”. We urge the Government to schedule the debate we recommended 10 months ago before dissolution. We also ask it to provide us with its view on the opinion of the Council Legal Service of 27 May on which concludes that the Commission is not competent to bring forward the proposed framework.
Other documents
We are also reporting on documents relating to:
- Business, Innovation and Skills: Protection of trade secrets; Single-member private limited liability companies; Earth observation satellite data;
- Energy and Climate Change: Emission trading Systems and market stability reserve;
- Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Animal health law;
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office: EU-Black Sea Cooperation; EU restrictive measures against Egypt; EU military mission to contribute to the training of Somali security forces; Use of EU contract staff; Restrictive measures against Zimbabwe; the EU and the Gulf of Guinea; EU Military Advisory Mission in the Central African republic; The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement;
- Health: Regulation of medical devices;
- Home Office: UK participation in the Schengen Information System; Europol;
- Justice: Data protection in the EU;
- Transport: Vehicle registration;
- Treasury: European Global Adjustment Fund; Value added taxation.
The Committee’s 35th Report of Session 2014-15 will be published on 13 March, covering: Investment plan for Europe; EU General Budgets for 2014 and 2015; Tackling youth unemployment; Entry and residence of third country nationals; WTO protocol on trade facilitation; EU anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard activities; Unified Patent Court; Trade in seal products; Protective measures against plant pests; EU enlargement: post-accession monitoring – Bulgaria and Romania; EU-Tunisia Action Plan; An EU regional strategy for Syria and Iraq as well as the Da’esh threat; the EU and the Gulf of Guinea; Ukraine and Russia: EU restrictive measures; Free movement and public documents; EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina: Stabilisation and Association Agreement; Unaccompanied minors seeking asylum; Eurojust; Forced labour; Food and Agriculture Organisation; Public access to documents; Civil aviation: passenger protection and Single European Sky.