Annex 6: Letter from Sir Richard Ottaway, Chair
of the Foreign Affairs Committee
"Thank you very much for your letter of 17 December,
inviting comment on which of the proposals in the Commission's
2015 Work Programme we see as particularly important. The Committee
discussed your letter last week.
"Our role in monitoring Foreign and Commonwealth
Office policy on membership of the European Union, the functioning
of its institutions and the future for the Union, leads us to
take an interest in all of the Commission's activities, as well
as the consequences for the UK and for relations between EU institutions.
So, in one sense, we see all the proposals made by the Commission
in its 2015 Work Programme as being important.
"For the purposes of your forthcoming report,
however, we would identify three proposals from the list of new
initiatives (presented as Annex 1 to the main Communication) as
ones which we — and possibly our successors — would
want to follow particularly closely. These are:
· No.15, on trade and investment strategy,
in particular the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership Agreement' (TIIP). We concluded in our
recent report on UK Government policy towards the US that the
TIIP Agreement could have significant positive strategic impact
for the UK, by boosting economic growth and underpinning the transatlantic
relationship;
· No.18, on the European Agenda on Migration.
While there is an understandable focus on the consequences of
migration, both from within the EU and from outside, it would
be a mistake to overlook the causes of migration and what the
EU can achieve through external relations to help address those
causes; and
· No. 19, on the European Neighbourhood
Policy. The most severe foreign crises during the course of this
Parliament have taken place on the eastern and southern fringes
of the EU, and the Neighbourhood Policy is the main instrument
by which the Union can work to strengthen prosperity and stability
in these regions and thereby help to safeguard its own security
and economic wellbeing.
"I hope this is of use to you and your Committee
in preparing your Report."
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