9 Other developments
95. Since publication of the Scrutiny Reform report
we have maintained a close interest in the work of the Committee
of Permanent Representatives (known as COREPER), and the associated
issue of the new arrangements for Qualified Majority Voting in
Council introducing new 'voting weights' for Member States, which
came into force in November 2014. The Scrutiny Reform Report contained
a critique of the opaqueness of the current EU legislative process,
and we note the contrast with the way legislation is passed in
the Westminster system.69F[70]
96. Our Chairman asked the Prime Minister about this
particular issue during a Liaison Committee hearing in February
2015, and the Prime Minister replied that "our representative
on COREPER—normally, Ivan Rogers—is riding to instructions
given to him by the British Government, by British Government
Ministers. If you are trying to posit that he can take decisions
totally independent of the Government he works for, he cannot.
He has to negotiate hard. He has sometimes to think about what
compromises to make", adding that "There are long communications
such as, 'If it goes this way, should I vote that way?' There
is an idea that there is some committee in Brussels deciding our
future without reference to Ministers; that is not the case."70F[71]
97. Over the course of this Parliament the Chairman
and members of the Committee have been active participants in
COSAC (the regular Conference of EU Affairs Committees). We note
and welcome the increased focus by COSAC on democratic legitimacy
and the role of national parliaments, and the fact that our Chairman
has been a major participant and lead speaker in those COSAC debates
and the discussions on these issues in COSAC more generally.
98. Making scrutiny more effective for the duration
of the EU legislative process is a high priority for EU Affairs
Committees across Member States. Our successor Committee will
wish, we are sure, to take a continued and close interest in the
role of COREPER, the new arrangements for QMV in Council, and
their implications for the democratic legitimacy of the EU, alongside
the other recommendations of the Scrutiny Reform Report.
70 Scrutiny Reform Report, paras 72-78 Back
71
Liaison Committee, Oral evidence taken on 24 February 2015, HC
1015, Qq 71-72. See also Annex B of the Minister for Europe's
letter submitted to us on 5 March, which notes that of the co-decision
files completed under the Lithuanian Presidency between July and
December 2013, of the 92 files, 44 were adopted as 'A' points
and 48 as 'B' points (B points are subject to discussion, A points
are taken without debate following agreement in COREPER). Back
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