Meeting Summary
The Committee considered the following documents:
EU Budget 2014
The Council and the European Parliament have failed
to reach agreement on the Commission's original Draft Budget for
2015. Consequently the Commission has presented a revised Draft
Budget, which we consider this week. The Government tells us that
it welcomes that the revised draft Budget represents a €800
million (£636.2 million) cut compared to the Commission's
original proposal, but that it continues to consider that there
should be a significant margin between the agreed budget and the
annual Multiannual Financial Framework ceiling for the purpose
of sound budgetary management. It notes that the Budget is agreed
by Qualified Majority Voting, and that it will therefore need
to work closely with like-minded budget disciplinarian Member
States to deliver the best deal possible for the UK. We have also
learned separately that the Council's Committee of Permanent Representatives
agreed a position on this Draft Budget, which appears to be acceptable
to the European Parliament and to be a done deal, which the Council
will merely formally adopt on 12 December.
We have little information about how agreement on
the 2015 EU General Budget relates to resolution of the disagreement
between the Council and the European Parliament on a number of
Draft Amending Budgets for the 2014 EU General Budget. We say
that, before considering this document again, we wish to have
a full explanation from the Government of developments on all
these budgetary matters. We also request that the Government provide
us with an explanation of the scrutiny breaches in relation to
these issues, particularly the failure to deposit the revised
Draft Budget, published on 28 November, until 10 December. When
we receive this information, we will consider whether we wish
for the Minister to appear before us in person. In the meantime,
we retain this document under scrutiny.
UK Block opt-out
This week we consider two Decisions, one adopted
by the Council, the other by the Commission, which complete the
processes necessary to enable the UK to rejoin 35 EU police and
criminal justice measures, following the exercise of its block
opt-out. The Home and Justice Secretaries confirm that two scrutiny
overrides have taken place in recent weeks in relation to this
matter. We invite them to give evidence at the earliest opportunity,
so that they can explain why the scrutiny process has been so
poorly handled.
Financial services: occupational pension funds
The 2003 Institutions for Occupational Retirement
Provision (IORP) Directive sets out a minimum harmonisation framework
for occupational pension schemes and their supervision. This week
we revisit a draft Directive which would revise the existing Directive
by introducing new rules concerning the governance of these schemes
and the information that schemes should provide to their beneficiaries.
We have shared the Government's concerns about the lack of justification
for the proposal, subsidiarity issues and the practical consequences
of the measure. When we last considered this proposal back in
July, we said that we wished to hear from the Government about
its efforts to forestall the draft Directive, including the results
of its detailed consideration, with the UK pensions sector, of
the potential impact of the proposal. The Government now informs
us that there is a considerably amended and more flexible Presidency
text and that the Presidency hopes to secure COREPER agreement
to a General Approach. The Government tells us it won't support
such a General Approach and that, in effect, it still hopes to
see the proposal aborted. The Government does not provide us with
the information about the results of its consideration of the
impact of the proposal which we requested previously. We ask the
Government to provide us with this information, and to confirm
that it will continue to oppose the measure if it goes to Council.
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