17 European aid to the most deprived
| Committee's assessment
| Legally important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny
|
| Document details | Commission delegated Regulation laying down the content of the annual and final implementation reports, including the list of common indicators
|
| Legal base | Article 13(6) of Regulation (EU) No. 223/2014 on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
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| Department
Document numbers
| Work and Pensions
(36240), 11741/14 + ADD 1, C(14) 4988
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
17.1 A Regulation establishing a Fund for European
Aid to the Most Deprived ("the Fund") 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. It is intended to complement
action taken at national level to eradicate poverty and promote
social inclusion.
17.2 The UK voted against the draft Regulation 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".[65]
17.3 Participation in the Fund is mandatory for all
Member States, but the Government made clear that it would seek
the minimum allocation possible — €3.5 million[66]
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.
17.4 Following repeated questioning, the Minister
for Employment (Esther McVey) finally confirmed in February that
the UK's allocation from the Fund would be used to provide additional
support for school breakfast clubs in England.
17.5 In July 2014, the Commission published a 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
this one 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.
17.6 The EU Treaties specify that the delegation
of powers to the Commission may only extend to measures supplementing
or amending non-essential elements of the parent legislation,
in this case the Regulation establishing the Fund.[67]
We asked the Minister whether she was satisfied that the draft
Commission delegated Regulation only concerned non-essential elements
of the parent Regulation and whether she considered there were
any grounds on which the Council or European Parliament might
wish to raise an objection to prevent its entry into force. In
her response, she told us that it "covers both essential
and non-essential elements" of the parent Regulation and
that the Government had raised "strong objections about the
level of detail required and the administrative burden this would
place on providers".[68]
We asked the Minister to identify the "essential elements"
and, in light of her concerns, invited her to explain why the
Government had not challenged the validity of the Commission delegated
Regulation.
17.7 The Minister now tells us that the Commission
delegated Regulation does not exceed the powers conferred by the
parent Regulation, only contains non-essential elements, and apologises
if her earlier letter was "open to misinterpretation".
17.8 We do not accept that we misinterpreted the
Minister's earlier letter, which stated categorically that the
Commission delegated Regulation "covers both essential and
non-essential elements" of the parent Regulation. We nevertheless
accept the Minister's apology and now clear the delegated Regulation
from scrutiny.
Full details of the documents:
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
17.9 Our earlier Reports, listed at the end of this
chapter, provide a detailed overview of the Regulation establishing
the Fund, as well as the common indicators for Member States'
annual implementation reports which are set out in the Commission
delegated Regulation. The delegated Regulation entered into force
on 26 November 2014, following the expiry of a two-month period
in which either the European Parliament or the Council (by a qualified
majority) were able to raise an objection.
The Minister's letter of 17 March 2015
17.10 The Minister first explains the purpose of
the Commission delegated Regulation:
"The delegated Regulation provides further
legislative details that supplement the provisions of the parent
Regulation; they detail the type of data to be maintained by managing
authorities and to be included in their annual reports, rules
regarding the use of such data, and provide audit trail rules
to ensure that sufficient records are maintained. Such matters
are non-essential elements, when using the term in the legal sense,
and in the context of interpreting the relevant Treaty provision."
17.11 The Minister makes clear that the delegated
Regulation only supplements non-essential elements of the parent
Regulation (referred to by the Minister as the FEAD Regulation):
"The delegated Regulation does not go beyond
its enabling powers as it prescribes requirements that are within
the scope of matters delegated in the FEAD Regulation i.e. non-essential
elements. Further, the matters contained in the delegated Regulation
are within the scope of Article 290 of the TFEU, given that they
cover general measures supplementing or amending non-essential
elements of the parent legislation. There was therefore no reason
for me to challenge the validity of the Regulation when it was
being discussed in draft.
"However, in my response to the Committee
dated 9 February 2015 I referred to both essential and non-essential
elements covered by the delegated Regulation; I should clarify
that I did not intend to imply that the Regulation went beyond
its enabling powers, but rather that some of the detail appeared
to us to be more useful than other aspects.
"I am sorry that this part of my letter
was open to misinterpretation."
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); Ninth Report HC 219-ix (2014-15),
chapter 12 (3 September 2014); Thirty-fourth Report HC 219-xxxiii
(2014-15), chapter 3 (25 February 2015).
65 HC Deb, 18 March 2014, 58WS. Back
66
The figure given is in 2011 prices. Back
67
See Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU). Back
68
See the Minister's letter of 9 February 2015 to the Chair of the
European Scrutiny Committee. Back
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