Letter from the Chairman, European Scrutiny
Committee to Chris Bryant, Minister for Europe, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
THE EU AND
THE ARCTIC
I am writing to follow up your evidence session
with the Committee on the EU and Arctic on 24 February.
In answer to a question from one of the Members of
the Committee you kindly offered to write to the Committee with
a list of the areas in which the Commission was competent to act
in the EU's policy on the Arctic.
A letter from you on this would be very useful,
and may help to explain more clearly to us the role of the institutions
and Member States in this nascent area of EU policy.
With reference to all the policy areas listed
in both the Commission's Communication of November 2008 on the
Arctic and the Council Conclusions of December 2009 on the Arctic,
we would be grateful for your response on the following issues:
— Which of the policy areas fall under
the CFSP, thereby denying the Commission any right of initiative
or role in formulating EU policy?
— In which of the policy areas not falling
under the CFSP does the Commission have:
(i) exclusive competence;
(ii) shared competence with Member States;
and
(iii) supporting/supplementary competence?
— For areas of shared competence, in which
does the Commission have a pre-emptive right to formulate the
EU's policy towards the Arctic, thereby preventing Member States
from exercising their own competence?
— For areas of supporting/supplementary
competence, is our understanding correct that it will be the Member
States which will formulate the EU's policy towards the Arctic,
as the Commission plays only a complementary role and has no power
of approximation?
— For areas of shared and supporting/supplementary
competence, what are the UK's "bilateral and multilateral
relationships with the Arctic States and Arctic Council"
that "are unaffected" by the EU's policy on the Arctic,
as mentioned in your letter of 9 December?
— For areas of shared and supporting/supplementary
competence, are there any subsidiarity concerns that arise, which
would recommend action by individual Member States rather than
the EU?
We would be very grateful for your detailed
consideration of these questions.
3 March 2010
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