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8 Sept 2003 : Column 299W—continued
European Union
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what discussions her Department's Ministers held with other departments with respect to formulating policy on the Convention on the Future of Europe; and if she will list the policy areas discussed; [128160]
- (2) what papers her Department drafted for submission to the Convention on the Future of Europe; [128161]
(3) if she will list the documents submitted to the Convention on the Future of Europe which related to the reform of (a) the Common Fisheries Policy and (b) the Common Agricultural Policy. [128163]
Mr. Bradshaw: As part of the normal Whitehall process, Defra Ministers have had regular discussions with other Departments to formulate policy on the Convention. Such discussions have informed the negotiating position of the UK Government representatives on the Convention but Departments have not been required or invited to submit documents to the Convention itself.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps towards the restoration of fisheries policy to national control, in the context of the Laeken Mandate and the Convention on the Future of Europe. [128162]
Mr. Bradshaw: The principal aim of the Convention on the Future of Europe, as set out in the Laeken Declaration of December 2001, is to address the following issues:
- a better division and definition of competence in the European Union;
simplification of the Union's instruments;
more democracy, transparency and efficiency in the European Union;
a Constitution for European Citizens—not changing but simplifying existing Treaties.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the effect of EU enlargement on the competitiveness of British agriculture. [128174]
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Mr. Bradshaw: EU enlargement represents a considerable expansion of the single market. The increase in the size of the single market presents UK producers with additional markets for their output as well as potential competitors for current markets. However, the implications for UK producers are not expected to be significant in the short term, both because of the continued application of CAP market measures and because trade liberalisation between the EU 15 and CE 10 is already well under way.
In the longer term the effect of enlargement will depend, in large part, on rates of productivity growth, and we have commissioned a detailed study to examine this issue. The objective of this project is to analyse the potential for changes in relative productivity growth in the new member states and the existing EU and the impact that this will have on agricultural markets. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will be published.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made on the effect of EU enlargement on the scale of the agricultural work force in the EU. [128173]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information on the agricultural workforce in both the EU15 and the candidate countries is published by Eurostat. The latest Eurostat estimates, for 2001, show the level of employment in the Agriculture, Forestry, Hunting and Fishing sector was 6,701 thousand in the EU 15 and 3,871 thousand in the CE 10. This 2001 data implies that enlargement would be expected to increase the scale of the workforce by nearly 60 per cent.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of EU legislation relating to agricultural production standards identified by her Department as having been implemented in the United Kingdom but not in other member states. [128063]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government have not made such an assessment. The European Commission is responsible for monitoring the transposition of Community law. Each year the Commission draws up a report on the monitoring of the application of Community law in all member states. This report is available on the Commission's website www.europa.eu.int.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to undertake departmental assessment of the competitive financial impact of EU regulations on UK agriculture. [128255]
Mr. Bradshaw: Departments are required to undertake Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIA) for all proposals that impose a burden or realise a benefit to business, charities and the voluntary sector, including those arising from the EU. In February 2002, a two stage 'competition assessment' was introduced as part of the RIA process. The first stage identifies whether the regulation will have an effect on competition; if the effect on competition is significant a second; more rigorous examination of the likely effects is carried out.
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In addition to the UK RIA requirement, in June 2002 the European Commission adopted an Action Plan for Better Regulation, in which it committed itself to introducing systematic impact assessment for new policy proposals.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the decision not to apply for a derogation to Regulation (EC) 1774/2002. [128261]
Mr. Bradshaw: The EU Animal By-Products Regulation (EC 1774/2002) is directly applicable in all member states. However, the UK has applied for transitional measures where it was clear that sectors of industry needed further time to comply with the requirements of the regulation. It is not clear what aspect of this regulation the hon. Member thinks we should have obtained a derogation from.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the working groups in the European Communities which relate to climate change. [128164]
Mr. Morley: The European Community has set up two groups relating to climate change: the Working Party on International Environment/Climate Change and the Monitoring Mechanism Committee.
The Working Party on International Environment/Climate Change considers key international climate change issues and develops the policy positions that the EU takes in the international climate change negotiations. It generally meets monthly and is attended by officials heading the climate change delegations of each of the member states, and the European Commission. The working party is supported by several expert groups of officials that provide advice and recommendations on a range of technical issues such as carbon sinks, the Kyoto mechanisms, reporting and accounting, and, further action beyond the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008–12).
The Monitoring Mechanism Committee assists the European Commission with tasks related to the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by member states, and the evaluation of progress by member states towards meeting their commitments. It was established by Council Decision 93/389/EEC as amended by Decision 99/296/EC. The committee has set up three working groups, comprising the relevant experts from member states and the Commission, on annual emissions inventories, national programmes and projections, and emissions trading. The committee meets once a year, usually in September, and is attended by officials from climate change delegations of each member state and the European Commission.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with (a) colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) counterparts in the European Union about the legislative competencies covered by the draft European constitution. [124775]
Mr. Bradshaw: As part of the normal Whitehall process, Defra Ministers and officials have had regular discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on all aspects of the Convention, including legislative
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competences. We have also had contact with Member and Accession States to discuss issues of mutual interest arising in the Convention.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list proposed EU legislation identified by her Department as setting agricultural production standards below those in place in the UK. [128052]
Mr. Bradshaw: There are no EU proposals for legislation currently being negotiated which set agricultural production standards below those already in force within the UK.
Export Credits
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what recent discussions her Department has had with the Department of Trade and Industry on reforming the Export Credits Guarantee Scheme; [126361]
- (2) what plans she has to reform the Export Credits Guarantee Scheme. [127184]
Mr. Morley: The Department is continually engaged in detailed discussions with the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD)—the Department responsible for export credits—with a view to ensuring that the provision of export credits takes full account of sustainability considerations. Discussions take place at both official and ministerial levels.
Recent discussions between Defra and ECGD have focused on:
- revisions to ECGD's Case Impact Analysis Process, including agreement that in future, ECGD would normally expect to disclose details of High Potential Impact cases at least 60 days prior to making a decision on whether to provide support;
the UK's approach to the forthcoming review of the OECD agreement on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits;
an initiative to seek improved terms of support for renewable energy projects through discussions in the OECD; and
detailed analysis of applications for support which are currently being assessed under ECGD's Sensitive Case procedure—in particular the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline project and the Sakhalin oil and natural gas project.
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