Foreign Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence from HE Laetitia van den Assum, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
1. With reference to your letter of 31 January 2013 regarding your inquiry into The future of the EU: UK Government policy, I would like to inform you of the following.
2. In the Netherlands, like in other EU Member States, the exercise of competences at the EU level vis- à -vis other levels of government has increasingly gained attention. It is against this background that earlier this year, following up on a commitment laid down in the coalition agreement, the Dutch Government launched a cross-ministerial process to look into the issues of subsidiarity and proportionality. Participating ministries are expected to make an internal assessment, as well as to consult with stakeholders, to identify aspects of EU policy that could possibly be addressed more effectively on the national or local level. We will not subject all European legislation to a subsidiarity and proportionality test again. Together with experts and stakeholders our ministries will be able to take stock of sufficient examples of regulations, directives and decisions that cannot stand the test of subsidiarity and/or proportionality based on experiences, practical bottlenecks, or changed circumstances since adoption. No other Member States or the EU institutions will be asked to contribute to this exercise.
3. On the basis of the results of this stocktaking exercise we will prepare a report with recommendations, which we aim to conclude by late September 2013. Shortly after that we intend to submit the results to the European Commission, in line with the mechanisms of the Smart Regulation Programme and the Better Regulation Action Plan.
4. The process is being coordinated by a task force set up within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will also formulate the recommendations.
5. At this stage in the process, the Government has not yet identified any policies or areas that cannot stand the test of subsidiarity or proportionality (excluding draft EU legislation that is currently negotiated).
12 April 2013