Meeting Summary
The Committee considered the following documents:
Detention and Supervision of EU citizens (for
debate in European Committee B)
In April, the Committee recommended this Commission
Report for debate in European Committee B. In it, the Commission
reports on how completely, if at all, Member States have implemented
three justice and home affairs Framework Decisions on Prisoner
Transfer, the European Supervision Order (ESO) and Probation.
The Commission says that these measures form an interdependent
package so, in our previous report, we questioned the Government
on its stated intention to opt back into only the first two measures,
following its exercise of the JHA block opt-out, especially as
it had not yet implemented the ESO. We asked the Minister to respond
before the requested debate took place. The Minister has now written
to indicate that the Government might reconsider its decision
on the Probation measure in the future. From the press release
following the recent General Affairs Council, it would appear
that a "solution concerning the Prüm Decision and the
Probation Framework Decision" has been reached between the
Commission and the UK. The Government has not informed Parliament
of this "solution" nor does it mention it in the recent
Command Paper 8897 which sets out the outcome of technical level
negotiations on the JHA measures it intends to opt back into.
We ask to hear from the Government on this matter and remind the
Minister of the need to hold this debate imminently given its
relevance to the negotiations currently underway.
Gender balance on corporate boards
This Draft Directive, intended to improve the gender
balance on the corporate boards of publicly listed companies,
has been under scrutiny by the Committee since December 2012.
The House, on the Committee's recommendation, issued a Reasoned
Opinion in January 2013 questioning the necessity for action at
EU level. Since then, negotiations have proceeded at a slow pace
and the UK has formed part of a stable blocking minority opposing
the adoption of the draft Directive. The incoming Italian Presidency
is keen to make headway and is expected to propose changes with
a view to securing a compromise agreement on the proposal. We
thank the Minister for her latest update but express considerable
frustration that she has not yet responded to a number of specific
questions raised in our earlier Reports which concern the expected
impact of the draft Directive (if adopted) on UK companies. We
ask her to do so, and to provide further progress reports on negotiations.
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