House of Commons - European Scrutiny - Eleventh Report

Select Committee on European Scrutiny Eleventh Report

Appendix: reports on Council meetings held during a recess

When the House is sitting, Departments make written Statements after each meeting of the Council of Ministers reporting on the Council meeting and on the activities of UK Ministers in it. However, for Council meetings taking place when the House is in recess we ask Departments to write to us instead. Replies concerning meetings during (and just before and after) the Constituency recess are published below.

General Affairs And External Relations Council, 12 February 2007

Letter to the Chairman from the Minister for Europe, Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Rt Hon Geoffrey Hoon MP)

The General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) took place on 12 February in Brussels. My Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mrs. Margaret Beckett) and Sir John Grant (UK Permanent Representative to the EU) represented the UK.

The agenda items were as follows:

General Affairs

Preparation of the European Council on 8/9 March

The Council took note of the annotated draft agenda prepared by the Presidency for the European Council in Brussels on 8 and 9 March.

The European Council will focus on the Lisbon strategy for jobs and growth; the EU's Better Regulation initiative and an integrated energy and climate policy.

The Presidency will use the annotated draft agenda as the basis for the draft European Council Conclusions.

External Relations

World Trade Organisation

The Council exchanged views on the basis of a presentation by Commissioner Peter Mandelson on prospects for the Doha Development Agenda negotiations.

The Council also adopted Conclusions underlining the importance of a successful conclusion to the revision of the Government Procurement Agreement.

Western Balkans

The Council discussed Serbia in light of recent elections and Kosovo on the basis of a presentation by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, of his draft status settlement proposals.

The Council adopted Conclusions on Serbia recalling its Conclusions of 3 October 2005 and welcoming the Commission's readiness to resume negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with a new government in Belgrade provided it shows clear commitment and takes concrete action for full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

The Council adopted Conclusions on Kosovo: expressing full support for the UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and his efforts in conducting the political process to determine Kosovo's future status; underlining that the proposals create the basis for Kosovo's sustainable economic and political development and for strengthening the stability of the entire region; urging Belgrade and Pristina to participate actively and constructively in the political process and expressing the EU's readiness to play a role in the implementation of the status settlement.

The Council adopted Conclusions expressing concern at the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, reiterating its demand that all parties refrain from any form of violence and denouncing in particular the bombing of areas in Northern Darfur by the Sudanese Air Force.

The Conclusions also welcome the agreement between the African Union (AU) and UN on the support package for the African Union Mission in Sudan and call on the Sudanese Government to cooperate with the deployment of the hybrid AU/UN force.

The Council adopted Conclusions welcoming the Transitional Federal Government's commitment to launch an inter-Somali dialogue and reaffirming the EU's willingness to assist the African Union Mission in Somalia and reconstruction efforts in Somalia.

The Presidency briefed the Council on the EU-Afghanistan Troika meeting on 29 January and the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board meetings on 30 and 31 January 2007.

The Council adopted Conclusions approving the Crisis Management Concept for a mission to Afghanistan under the European Defence and Security Policy, in the field of policing with links to the wider rule of law.

The Presidency and the High Representative for the Common and Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, briefed the Council on their contacts with Iran's national security adviser, Ali Larijani, in Munich on 11 February.

The Council agreed a draft common position on restrictive measures against Iran. The draft common position will ensure the effective implementation in the EU of UN Security Council Resolution 1737 by imposing inter alia a ban on the supply of certain goods and technology related to Iran's nuclear and missile programme; a visa ban against persons and a freeze of assets against persons and entities listed in UNSCR 1737 and other persons or entities associated with these programmes; and a requirement to prevent specialised teaching or training of Iranian national in disciplines related to these fields.

Middle East Peace Process

The Council exchanged views on the Mecca agreement of 8 February to form a National Unity Government. The Foreign Secretary briefed the Council on her recent visit to the region and her telephone calls with President Abbas and Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud.

The Council adopted Conclusions welcoming the agreement to form a National Unity Government, reiterating the EU's willingness to work with a government that adopts a platform reflecting the Quartet principles, and welcoming the reinvigorated Quartet and their statements of 2 and 9 February.

The Council also adopted Conclusions on Lebanon welcoming the success of the Paris III conference on 25 January 2007, urging parties to refrain from violence and calling for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Following the adoption of Conclusions on 22 January, the Council discussed EU handling of the case of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in Libya for allegedly infecting children with HIV/AIDS in a Libyan hospital.

19 February 2007

Justice and Home Affairs Council, 15 February 2007

Letter to the Chairman from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Home Office (Joan Ryan MP)

I thought it would be useful if I were to write to you about the JHA Council on 15 February since it is not possible for me to make a written statement to the House due to the timing of recess.

A key part of the German Presidency is the integration of the Prüm Convention into European Union law. Information sharing between police and law enforcement agencies provides a vital tool in the investigation, detection and prevention of crime. It has the potential to aid the fight against cross-border crime and the detection of individuals, including foreign nationals who have committed crimes abroad and those who have committed crimes and travelled abroad to prevent detection. The UK therefore welcomes the work that the Presidency has done on the transposition of the Prüm Convention into EU law. We continue to have concerns about article 18 which, as currently drafted, does not preclude "hot pursuit" and we will continue negotiations on this article.

Another priority for the Presidency is the Prisoner Transfer proposal and they will be looking to reach a general approach. Further work is required on some aspects of the proposal and the UK has made clear to the Presidency that it remains subject to domestic parliamentary scrutiny in the meantime. We would expect political agreement on the text as a whole to follow thereafter. The UK attaches considerable importance to finalising this measure, which we believe will add considerable value to existing prisoner transfer arrangements. We are looking to finalise negotiations on this proposal as soon as possible so that implementation can commence and the benefits to Member States and prisoners can take effect. You will have seen my letter of 7 February in response to the concerns you raised in your letter of 24 January.

On migration the Presidency will table a communication for discussion to further explore the concept of migration partnerships as a means of launching a comprehensive relationship with third countries on migration issues. The Presidency's priority is to take forward the concept of partnerships with third countries. Whilst the UK welcomes this initiative, we need to have a flexible approach to model such agreement on the needs of individual third countries. We believe that this is a complex area which requires thorough examination and we anticipate that the Commission's communication, published in due course, will be a basis for developing more concrete proposals.

The Schengen Information System (SIS), SIRENE and VISION will be discussed under both the main agenda and in the mixed committee with the aim of ensuring provision of a network service for these in light of the delay to the implementation of SIS II and connection of the new Member States to SISOne4All. The UK's preferred option is an extension of the SISNET network with S-Testa as a backup option. We are also committed to minimising any further delays to the implementation of SIS II.

Other items in the mixed committee include SISOne4All in which the UK is not participating and an update on the rescheduling of SIS II In light of the implementation of SISOne4All.

Finally in the mixed committee the Presidency will take the opportunity to update Ministers on the progress of negotiations on a draft Regulation creating Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABITS). Frontex will also be looking to Member States to contribute to a centralised register of technical assets. The UK believes that the RABITs proposal is an important concept and having teams able to respond rapidly to unexpected influxes of immigration is a positive development However, a number of important issues remain to be resolved. On the technical assets side the UK is looking at contributing human resources for training and operations as well as other assets such as New Detection Technology and forgery detection equipment

There is likely to be a lunch-time discussion on the proposal for a Council Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia. The Presidency is keen to reach swift agreement on the Framework Decision and whilst the UK believes it to be worthwhile, previous experiences have shown this to be a difficult and contentious dossier. For example, we understand and respect that some States ban holocaust denial, but there is a consensus in the UK, across the political spectrum and including from members of the Jewish community, that this is not an approach that we should adopt in the UK. Another outstanding issue for the UK is that we do not support the text on mutual legal assistance proposed at Article 8(2). We believe that this has now been superseded by the agreement on the European Evidence Warrant, which would govern requests for evidence in relation to racist and xenophobic crime.

13 February 2007

Education and Youth Council, 16 February 2007

Letter to the Chairman from the Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Department of Education and Skills (Bill Rammell MP)

I am writing to confirm the items for discussion at the Education and Youth Council on 16 February. Anne Lambert, Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU, will attend both Councils.

The agenda for this meeting is particularly light. Ministers will be asked to agree the contribution of the Education Council to the Spring European Council, and the text is expected to be adopted without discussion. The UK is content with the text.

There will be an exchange of views on "Looking beyond 2010 — developing the 'Education and Training 2010' work programme". Here, the UK will intervene in order to highlight common priorities for the period after 2010, focussing on improving the basic and intermediate skills levels of the European workforce. We will stress the need for Education Ministers to position themselves firmly within the Lisbon process, and take greater ownership over the skills debate within Europe. Finally, we shall call for the Commission to review the priorities and working practices of Education Council.

During Youth Council, Ministers will be asked to agree the contribution of the Council (in the field of youth policy) to the Spring European Council on the implementation of the European Pact for Youth. Again, this text is expected to be adopted without discussion. The UK is content with the document.

Finally, there will be an exchange of views on a reflection paper on the future perspectives for European Youth policy. Here, the UK will intervene to state that youth policy is best taken forward within the current Lisbon process and Open Method of Coordination, and will oppose suggestions to set up separate parallel arrangements to deal with youth matters.

12 February 2007

Competitiveness Council, Brussels, 19 February 2007

Letter to the Chairman from the Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, Department of Trade and Industry (Ian McCartney MP)

I am writing to provide information on the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on 19 February 2007. Michael Glos, German Federal Minister of Economics and Technologies will chair the Council.

There will be a presentation by the Commission followed by an exchange of views, which will be in public. The Council will discuss the Commission's proposal that the Spring European Council endorse a 25% target for reducing administrative burdens from EU legislation, as well as the scope for similar action covering national law in the member states. Improving the EU regulatory framework is a priority for the Presidency and, as such, it will wish to secure an agreement on administrative burdens reduction which will produce real benefits for business. The UK supports this.

The next item on the agenda is on the Commission's Communication on a Competitive Automotive Regulatory Framework for the 21^st Century (CARS 21). There will be a presentation from the Commission followed by an exchange of views. The UK is keen to ensure that an integrated approach is taken to the automotive sector and will be making this point at the Council.

There will follow an agenda item on the Lisbon Economic Reform process and, specifically, the contribution of the Competitiveness Council to the Spring European Council (the "Key Issues Paper"). There will be a presentation from the Commission on its 2006 Annual Progress Report, an orientation debate, and adoption of the Key Issues Paper. The Key Issues Paper covers five broad areas — the Single Market, Better Regulation, Research and Innovation, Unlocking business potential, and External trade policy. It is in line with UK priorities for the Competitiveness Council.

Four items will be taken under Any Other Business:

1. Communication from the Commission concerning the Free Movement of Goods — Revision of the New Approach and Mutual Recognition in the non-harmonised area (Information from the Commission).

2. Green Paper for the Revision of the Community "Acquis" in the area of consumer protection (Information from the Commission).

3. Proposal for a Directive on the exercise of voting rights by shareholders of companies having their registered office in a Member State and whose shares are admitted to trading on a regular market (Information from the Presidency on the state of play).

4. Internal Market Scoreboard (Information from the Commission).

There will be a lunchtime discussion item on "Competitiveness, Climate Change, and Secure Energy Supply". Securing EU agreement for action to tackle climate change is a key priority for the UK. The UK welcomes the discussion of this topic at the Competitiveness Council.

14 February 2007

© Parliamentary copyright 2007
Prepared 8 March 2007