12 European aid to the most deprived
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested
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| Document details | (a) Draft Regulation on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (34394), 15865/12 + ADDs 1-2, COM(12) 617
(b) Commission delegated Regulation laying down the content of the annual and final implementation reports, including the list of common indicators (36240), 11741/14 + ADD 1, C(14) 4988
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| Legal base | (a) Article 175(3) TFEU; co-decision; QMV;
(b) Article 13(6) of Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
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| Department | Work and Pensions
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
12.1 A Regulation establishing a Fund for European
Aid to the Most Deprived was adopted in March 2014. The Fund forms
an integral part of EU Structural and Investment Funds for the
period 2014-20 and is intended to contribute to the Europe 2020
poverty reduction target which seeks to lift at least 20 million
people out of the risk of poverty and social exclusion by 2020.
The objectives of the Fund are to alleviate poverty through the
provision of food, clothing and other essential consumer goods
and to support activities promoting the social integration of
the most deprived. Participation in the Fund is mandatory for
all Member States.
12.2 The UK voted against the draft Regulation —
document (a) — on the grounds that the proposed Fund was
inconsistent with the principle of subsidiarity. In a subsequent
Written Ministerial Statement to the House, the Government noted
that both Houses had issued Reasoned Opinions and that the distribution
of food and consumer goods to deprived people was "better
and more efficiently delivered by individual Member States and
their local authorities, rather than through EU programmes".[44]
The Government has requested the minimum allocation available
from the Fund — €3.5 million[45]
for the period 2014-20 — in order to mitigate the impact
of the Fund on the remainder of the UK's allocation of EU Structural
and Investment Funds. We have asked the Government to explain
how it intends to use the UK's allocation of funding and, in particular,
whether it proposes to provide direct material assistance to those
in need (for example, through food banks) or to support broader
social inclusion measures (and, if the latter, what type of measures
are envisaged).[46] Pending
a response, the draft Regulation remains under scrutiny.
12.3 Document (b) is a Commission delegated Regulation
establishing the information to be included by Member States in
their annual reports on the implementation of the Fund, based
on a list of common indicators. Although we do not routinely examine
delegated legislation, we asked the Government to deposit the
draft Commission Regulation for scrutiny as it provides a useful
indication of the type of assistance that may be made available
under the Fund and the categories of beneficiaries.
12.4 The Regulation establishing the Fund for
European Aid to the Most Deprived entered into force on 12 March
2014. It requires each Member State to submit an operational programme
specifying how it proposes to implement the Fund within six months
of that date.[47]
Given the imminence of the deadline for submitting the UK's operational
programme, it is disappointing that the Government is still unable
to provide any indication of how it proposes to utilise the available
funding. Document (a) will remain under scrutiny until the Government
is able to do so. We ask the Government to tell us whether it
is on track to submit its operational programme on time.
12.5 With regard to document (b), we ask the Government:
· whether it is satisfied that the draft
Commission delegated Regulation only concerns "non-essential
elements" of the Regulation establishing the Fund for European
Aid to the Most Deprived; and
· whether it considers there are any
grounds on which the Council or European Parliament might wish
to raise an objection to prevent its entry into force.
12.6 Meanwhile, document (b) also remains under
scrutiny.
Full details of the documents:
(a) Draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived: (34394), 15865/12
+ ADDs 1-2; COM(12) 617; (b) Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing
Regulation (EU) No. 223/2014 on the Fund for European Aid to the
Most Deprived by laying down the content of the annual and final
implementation reports, including the list of common indicators:
(36240), 11741/14 + ADD 1, C(14) 4988.
Background
12.7 Our earlier Reports, listed at the end of this
chapter, provide a detailed overview of document (a), the Government's
position, and the content of the Reasoned Opinion agreed by the
House on 18 December 2012. As the UK was unable to oppose the
adoption of the draft Regulation and will be required to implement
the Fund, we have pressed the Government for an explanation of
how it intends to use its allocation of funding.
12.8 Under the Regulation agreed in March 2014, Member
States may use their allocation of funding to support national
schemes for the distribution of food and other basic consumer
goods (such as clothing, footwear, hygiene products, school equipment
and sleeping bags) and/or to support broader social inclusion
activities.
The Commission delegated Regulation — document
(b)
12.9 The Regulation establishing the Fund for European
Aid to the Most Deprived authorises the Commission to adopt a
delegated act setting out the content of the annual implementation
reports to be submitted by each Member State (as well as a final
implementation report in 2024), based on a list of common indicators.
The common indicators require Member States to identify the amount
of funding dedicated to the provision of food and to the provision
of other basic material assistance, as well as the types and quantities
of food or other assistance provided. National implementation
reports must also identify the number of people receiving assistance
from the Fund and, amongst these, the number falling into the
following categories: children under the age of 16; adults over
65; women; migrants and ethnic minorities; disabled people; and
the homeless.
12.10 In addition to this information, the final
implementation report submitted by each Member State, and the
annual reports submitted in 2017 and 2022, must include an assessment
of the contribution the Fund has made towards promoting social
cohesion, enhancing social inclusion, and alleviating poverty.
12.11 The draft Commission Regulation is dated 17
July 2014. It will enter into force within two months of that
date unless the European Parliament or Council raise an objection
or seek a further two-month extension.
The Minister's Explanatory Memorandum of 11 August
12.12 The Minister for Employment (Esther McVey)
says that the Government "is still considering the best way"
to use the UK's allocation of funding and adds that the draft
Commission delegated Regulation "will be taken into account"
in developing the UK's Operational Programme to implement the
Fund.[48]
Previous Committee Reports
Twenty-second Report HC 86-xxii (2012-13), chapter
3 (5 December 2012); Fourteenth Report HC 83-xiv (2013-14), chapter
10 (11 September 2013); Twentieth Report HC 83-xix (2013-14),
chapter 3 (30 October 2013); Twenty-ninth Report HC 83-xxvi (2013-14),
chapter 8 (8 January 2014).
44 HC Deb, 18
March 2014, 58WS. Back
45
The figure given is in 2011 prices. Back
46
Letter of 30 April 2014 from the Chair of the European Scrutiny
Committee to the Minister for Employment (Esther McVey). Back
47
Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No. 223/2014, OJ No. L 72, 12.03.2014.
Back
48
See para 9 of the Government's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
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