Documents considered by the Committee on 4 September 2013 - European Scrutiny Committee Contents


13 European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and Morocco

(34882)

8838/13

JOIN(13) 6

Council Decision on the Union position within the Association Council set up by the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States and the Kingdom of Morocco with regard to the adoption of a recommendation on the implementation of the EU-Morocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (2013-2017)

Legal baseArticle 29 TEU; unanimity
Document originated17 April 2013
Deposited in Parliament1 May 2013
DepartmentForeign and Commonwealth Office
Basis of considerationEM of 16 May 2013
Previous Committee ReportNone; but see (34824) 8044/13: HC 86-iii (2013-14), chapter 22 (21 May 2013) and (34640) 17814/13: HC 86-vi (2013-14), chapter 12 (19 June 2013)
Discussion in CouncilTo be determined
Committee's assessmentLegally and politically important
Committee's decisionNot cleared; further information requested

Background

13.1 The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) aims to promote security, stability and prosperity among the EU's neighbours through implementation of political and economic reforms. It applies, in the East, to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, and, in the South, to Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria and Tunisia. Bilateral Action Plans detail the planned reforms agreed between the EU and partner countries (Algeria, Belarus, Libya and Syria, while covered by ENP, do not participate fully in it and do not have agreed Action Plans). In addition to these bilateral components, the ENP comprises a number of regional and multilateral initiatives.

13.2 Implementation of the ENP is supported by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) with a budget in 2007-13 of some €11.5 billion.[36]

13.3 Our first Report under reference deals with the Joint Communication on the European Neighbourhood Policy, "European Neighbourhood Policy: Working towards a Stronger Partnership", which is the second report since the major overhaul of the ENP in summer 2011. The new ENP's main features are political association and economic integration, the mobility of people, more EU financial assistance, a stronger partnership with civil society and better cooperation on specific sector policies. The Joint Communication reviews progress made by ENP partners against the jointly agreed reform objectives.

13.4 As is customary, individual progress reports (covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia and Ukraine) assess progress made by these ENP partner countries in implementing reforms agreed with the EU and where further action is required. There are also two regional reviews covering the Southern Neighbourhood and the Eastern Partnership (and a Statistical Annex, which provides selected political, economic, mobility and assistance related indicators, statistics and graphs). The key points of this mass of documentation is summarised in, and commented upon by the Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington), in our first Report under reference.[37]

The new EU-Morocco Action Plan

13.5 The new EU-Morocco Action Plan implementing the advanced status (2013-2017)[38] provides for a political roadmap for cooperation across all sectors of the EU-third country relationship. Priorities include:

  • implementing the new Constitution;
  • continuing justice and human rights reform;
  • strengthening good governance;
  • promoting greater freedom of association of the press and the adoption of a press code;
  • structural reform of the economy; and
  • fighting unemployment.

The Government's view

13.6 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 16 May 2013, the Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) says that the Action Plan:

"signals EU political support for Morocco, particularly through its branding as an Action Plan on an advanced status. Morocco would be the first country in the EU's Neighbourhood to attain this status — at present; Tunisia is currently negotiating an Action Plan on a Privileged Partnership, while all other partners in the Neighbourhood have no such special status. It also provides a means of leveraging the EU and Moroccan bureaucracies to engage in particular areas, by denoting cooperation in that sector a political priority."

13.7 The Minister continues his comments as follows:

"UK Ministers are strongly committed to working in support of the EU and its Neighbourhood Policy post-Arab Spring. The UK is supportive of Morocco's reform process, and keen to see the EU use its incentives to encourage further reform.

"This Action Plan will inform our bilateral relations with Morocco in the coming years offering a methodology for a cooperation across all sectors of the EU-third country relationship. The current European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) EU-Morocco Action Plan expired in July 2010. Pending the conclusion of the new Action Plan, both sides have agreed to continue to apply the 2005 Action Plan.

"The EU-Morocco partnership, which started with a Trade Agreement in 1969, reached a turning-point with the Association Agreement signed in 1996, under the European Neighbourhood Policy. These have helped to strengthen political, economic and trade ties and resulted in the sustained development of human and cultural exchanges. On the basis of the Association Agreement, relations between Morocco and the EU have gradually and steadily grown into a genuine EU-Morocco partnership.

"The adoption in October 2008 of the joint document on reinforcing bilateral relations marked the start of a new phase in bilateral relations. This document strengthens the partnership between the EU and Morocco by setting ambitious new goals for deeper political, economic and human relations. The two sides are seeking to further strengthen this partnership in order to address shared political, economic and social challenges.

"The Action Plan concerns the relationship between Morocco and the European Union, rather than EU Member States. However, the UK supports the aims and objectives stated in the Action Plan, which requires a stronger commitment to the introduction of the major reforms instigated by Morocco and to their extension both in the political sphere, principally in the areas of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and in the economic and social spheres, in particular with a view to tangible progress on human development."

13.8 The Minister also comments on the use of a Council Decision as follows:

"The United Kingdom does not agree that a Council Decision citing a substantive Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) legal base is the appropriate mechanism for adopting the EU's position within the Association Council with regard to the adoption of a recommendation to adopt the Action Plan. The Action Plan itself does not contain any legally binding obligations and moreover the Association Council will simply 'recommend' its adoption to the Parties to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement. The United Kingdom considers that the Council is being asked to adopt an EU position that is essentially political and therefore should properly be adopted by way of Council Conclusions adopted by consensus. Furthermore the Action Plan covers a broad range of subject areas and it is unlikely that they would all fall within the Union's CFSP."

Conclusion

13.9 This latter is an issue that we have explored at length with the Minister, both in relation to the earlier EU-Palestine Action Plan[39] and, more generally, in the evidence that he has given to the Committee during the course of its inquiry into the scrutiny process in the House.

13.10 The Minister contended that the Council Decision by which that earlier Action Plan was adopted was not legally binding. At issue for the Government then was a desire for a policy document such as an ENP Action Plan not to be legally binding: for the Committee, to ensure that all ENP Action Plans are depositable documents.

13.11 The Minister said (in a letter to the Committee of 22 March 2013) that the Government had argued consistently that a Council Decision was not the right means to adopt a text of a political nature; and that the Council Decision for the EU-Palestine Action Plan was not a legally binding decision pursuant to Article 288 TFEU. He went on to say:

    "There is no substantive legal base cited on the face of the Council decision. As the I/A cover note for the decision acknowledges, the text of the Action Plan is of a political nature having no legally binding effects for the Parties; and the position to be approved by the Council is not based on Article 218(9) TFEU. On the basis of the I/A cover note, it is clear that this act of the Council is not a decision as provided for in Article 288 TFEU but rather a sui generis Council decision that creates political rather than legal commitments. The Council decision and the cover note were agreed by consensus on 18 March."

13.12 We deemed this a novel argument, because the Treaties do not provide for non-legally binding Council Decisions such as this.

13.13 Most recently, when giving evidence to the Committee's inquiry on 3 July, the Minister was asked if he would agree to our revised Standing Order referring to action plans by name as depositable documents; and responded thus:

"No. The problem with action plans is that they cover such a wide range of documents. They are not defined in the treaties in any way. Sometimes action plans can be documents that are politically important; they will define the EU strategy towards a particular country or region of the world. We do try in Government, where that is the case, to submit them for scrutiny. If they are issued as Council decisions or Commission communications, first of all, they are depositable under the scrutiny process anyway. The enlargement strategy, which was a communication, and the joint communications of the EAS and the Commission on the counterterrorism action plan for the Horn of Africa and Yemen were caught by scrutiny."[40]

13.14 Our view continues to be that ENP Action Plans, in whatever form they are to be adopted, should be depositable documents precisely because they are political commitments, and ones that do indeed define EU strategy and policy towards a country or region. If they do not, then they are mis-named: and if they are thus named, they should be subject to the normal scrutiny process.

13.15 As we have indicated, it may be that our Standing Orders will have to be amended to include strategies and action plans specifically if they are not to be adopted by Council Decisions in the future. But that is for another time.

13.16 For now, we would be grateful to be kept informed of developments in agreeing the procedure to be adopted for this and other Action Plans,[41] not least because of its consequences for Parliamentary scrutiny.

13.17 In the meantime, we shall continue to retain this Council Decision under scrutiny.





36   See http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/index_en.htm for full information about the European Neighbourhood Policy. Back

37   See headnote. Back

38   "Advanced status" partnership means closer cooperation in a large number of areas, and specific commitments on both sides. It has also been described as "more than association, less than accession". Back

39   See headnote: (34640) 17814/13: HC 86-vi (2013-14), chapter 12 (19 June 2013). Back

40   See http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmeuleg/uc109-iii/uc10901.htm, Q562. Back

41   See our consideration of the proposed EU-Lebanon Action Plan at chapter 15 of this Report. Back


 
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Prepared 23 September 2013