Meeting Summary
The Committee looks at the significance of EU proposals and decides whether to clear the document from scrutiny or withhold clearance and ask questions of the Government. The Committee also has the power to recommend documents for debate.
Brexit related issues
The Committee is now looking at documents in the light of the UK decision to withdraw from the EU. Issues are explored in greater detail in report chapters and, where appropriate, in the summaries below, but the Committee notes that in the current week the following issues and questions have arisen in documents or in correspondence with Minsters:
Portability of online content
The Government provides a detailed account of the implications of Brexit for the EU’s proposal to mandate cross-border portability of online content. Key points include that:
- the Regulation will come into force while the UK remains an EU Member State, during which time consumers will benefit from portable content services;
- the Regulation will continue to have implications for the offerings provided by British content creators and service providers post-Brexit;
- the cross-border nature of the issue means that, when the UK leaves the EU, it will not be possible to retain portable content arrangements solely through domestic legislation; and
- some businesses could continue to offer portable content after the UK leaves the EU, although this will involve navigating certain difficulties inherent in cross-border copyright licensing which have, to date, largely prevented service providers from doing so.
Digital Single Market: Wholesale roaming charges
The Committee re-iterates its request for responses to various as yet unanswered questions about the implications of Brexit for UK-EU roaming services, including:
- the Minister’s view of Commissioner Oettinger’s assessment that WTO rules mean that continued UK-EU surcharge-free roaming arrangements could only be concluded in the context of a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement;
- whether the Minister is persuaded that the UK will not be able to participate in surcharge-free roaming arrangements post-Brexit; and
- an assessment of the implications of non-participation in the EU-wide abolition of roaming surcharges for different groups of UK stakeholders.
Coordination of Social Security
Under EU law, UK citizens resident in the EU can in certain circumstances continue to claim UK benefits. This is the case for many of the 190,000 UK pensioners who live in southern Europe: they are eligible for the UK State Pension and can have the costs of their healthcare reimbursed by the UK Government. How will the Government support those British nationals resident in the EU who are currently entitled to receive UK social security, and those EU national resident here who currently benefit from Regulation 883/2004.
Proposed Regulation on Data Protection and the EU Institutions
The Committee questions whether protections for UK citizens when their data is handled by EU institutions could be even more important after Brexit if, as third country nationals, they have to submit more data in order to live, work or provide services in the EU.
Proposed Regulation on privacy and e-communications (ePrivacy)
The Committee asks about the Brexit implications of reform of EU law on protecting sensitive information in e-communications and metadata.
Security of gas supply
The Committee asks about the impact on UK gas price and gas security of failing to reach an agreement on energy cooperation with the EU post-Brexit and the possible models of cooperating with the EU on gas supply security post-Brexit, including membership of the Energy Community.
Summary
Resumption of transfers of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin rules
Transfers of asylum seekers back to Greece were suspended in 2011 following judgments by the Strasbourg Human Rights Court and the Luxembourg Court of Justice that there were systemic deficiencies in Greece’s asylum system. This is the fourth in a series of non-binding Recommendations in which the Commission sets out the steps to be taken by Greece to enable Member States to send back asylum seekers who first entered the EU through Greece (so-called “Dublin transfers”). The decision whether or not to reinstate Dublin transfers to Greece rests with each Member State, subject to oversight by both Courts.
The Commission recommends a gradual resumption of Dublin transfers from mid-March, based on individual assurances given by Greece concerning the treatment of each asylum applicant. Given the still “precarious” treatment of unaccompanied minors, the Commission says that vulnerable asylum applicants (including unaccompanied minors) should not be transferred to Greece for the time being. The Government supports the measures set out in the Commission Recommendation but is unwilling to speculate on “whether and to what extent transfers will be possible in practice” since this will depend on action yet to be taken by the Greek authorities. The Committee welcomes the Government’s caution, urging the Government to consult international organisations and NGOs operating on the ground in Greece before reinstating Dublin transfers from the UK to Greece.
Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Home Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Criminal law measures to counter money laundering
The proposed Directive would establish minimum rules on the definition of money laundering offences and on sanctions and is intended to make it easier to carry out cross-border investigations and prosecutions. It largely replicates international standards which already apply to the UK. It is subject to the UK’s justice and home affairs opt-in. The Government “strongly supports international cooperation to tackle money laundering” and considers the proposal to be “broadly in line with existing UK legislation and practice on money laundering” but identifies two provisions (on aggravating circumstances and on corporate liability) which might necessitate changes to UK law if the UK were to opt in. The previous Coalition Government made clear that it was “not for Europe to impose minimum standards on our police and criminal justice system”. The Government is asked whether it agrees or whether different considerations apply in this case. It is also asked to elaborate on its concerns in relation to the provisions on aggravating circumstances and on corporate liability.
Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Home Affairs Committee.
Establishing a European Travel Information and Authorisation System
This proposal would establish a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) which is expected to be operational from 2020. The immigration status of UK nationals wishing to travel to the Schengen area post-Brexit is one of the issues to be resolved during Article 50 negotiations. In answer to previous Committee questions, the Government sets out the main differences between the ETIAS model and the current Schengen visa regime, but provides no details of the outcome the Government intends to seek in Article 50 negotiations. Nor does the Government answer the Committee’s questions on third country access to ETIAS data, saying only that “how the UK shares data with the EU from the point of exit will be an issue for discussions during the negotiations”. The Committee invites the Government to share details of the various options the Government is considering “as to how EU migration might work once we have left the EU” and to explain how they will influence its negotiating position on the proposed Regulation; explain how the Government intends to influence negotiations on the provisions dealing with third country access to ETIAS data with a view to achieving a better outcome on data sharing in Article 50 exit negotiations; engage fully in discussions on the personal information to be included in an ETIAS application and the screening rules which may lead to the refusal of a travel authorisation, given their potential impact on British nationals once the UK leaves the EU; and clarify whether the proposal would apply to rail carriers.
Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Home Affairs Committee.
Coordination of Social Security
For EU citizens who exercise their freedom of movement to move between Member States, the EU has adopted legislation to establish which country is responsible for paying social security such as the state pension, unemployment benefit or maternity leave. The European Commission is proposing to amend this legislation, primarily to restrict the rights of unemployed people to access benefits if they move to a different country. This reflects the UK’s interpretation of the law, which it successfully defended before the EU Court of Justice.
The Department for Work & Pensions has not provided any assessment of the impact Brexit will have on UK citizens who live elsewhere in the EU. While the Prime Minister has said she wants an early deal on the rights of UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, there is no information on what type of agreement the Government will seek. The Committee asks how the Government is planning to support both those British nationals resident in the EU, who are currently entitled to receive UK social security, and those EU nationals resident here who currently benefit from Regulation 883/2004.
Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Work and Pensions Committee.
Cross-border portability of on-line content
In December 2015, the Commission proposed a draft Regulation intended to enable EU consumers who have purchased or legitimately subscribed to online content services in their home Member State access to that service when ‘temporarily present’ in another Member State. The Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Joseph Johnson) updates the Committee on progress in trilogue negotiations, reporting that the Maltese Presidency has produced a compromise text that “represents a sensible middle ground between the Council and Parliament texts”. The Minister notes that: the Regulation will come into force while the UK remains an EU Member State, during which time consumers will benefit from portable content services; that, post-Brexit, it will not be possible to retain portable content arrangements solely through domestic legislation; but that businesses could potentially continue to provide portable content after the UK leaves the EU.
Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested; but scrutiny waiver granted; drawn to the attention of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and the Exiting the European Union Committee.
Digital Single Market: Wholesale roaming charges
In order to ensure that the EU’s commitment to abolishing retail roaming surcharges for consumers by 15 June 2017 is commercially sustainable for mobile operators, the Commission proposed to further reduce existing caps on ‘wholesale roaming’—the prices that operators charge each other for use of their networks when their customers roam on the ‘visited’ operators’ networks. The Minister of State for Digital and Culture (Matthew Hancock) writes to inform the Committee that trilogue negotiations concluded on 31 January 2017, with the European Parliament succeeding in securing lower wholesale data roaming caps than those proposed by the Council. The outcome is beneficial to UK mobile operators as they experience a net outflow of roaming services, meaning that lower wholesale caps reduce their costs. The Committee repeats its earlier Brexit related questions (see section above).
Cleared from scrutiny; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Committee for Exiting the European Union, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
Cooperation on enforcement of consumer protection laws
This proposal will replace the existing Regulation and aims to provide for mutual assistance and surveillance mechanisms and coordinated and common enforcement action in relation to widespread cross-border infringements. In particular, the proposal aims to tackle abuses which could undermine consumer confidence in online trade, such as scam websites, geo-blocking and unlawful after-sales conditions and to therefore to support the Digital Single Market.
The Government has been generally supportive of the proposal. The Committee grants the Government a scrutiny waiver in advance of a General Approach being agreed at the Competitiveness Council on 20 February, on the condition that any text supported by the Government should leave the door open for the UK to continue to cooperate as a third country should that be part of the UK’s future relationship with the UK after Brexit.
Not cleared; drawn to the attention of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee; conditional scrutiny waiver granted; further information requested.
Proposed Regulation on Data Protection and the EU Institutions
This proposal simply aims to adapt the rules of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted last year to the EU institutions and agencies. It is likely to be directly applicable to the UK in May 2018 before Brexit but will have few immediate implications for the UK as requirements largely apply to data controllers/processors of EU bodies. However, we probe the Government as to whether, depending on the nature of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, handling by the EU institutions of the personal data of UK citizens might assume an even greater significance after Brexit. This might be the case if more data will need to be submitted to EU bodies than at present by “third country” UK citizens wanting to travel to, work or provide services in the EU.
Not cleared; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee; conditional scrutiny waiver granted.
Proposed Regulation on privacy and e-communications (ePrivacy)
Like the General Data Protection Regulation “GDPR” agreed last year, this is a significant proposal. It is likely to apply to the UK at the same time as the GDPR in May 2018 and before Brexit. It aims to protect sensitive personal or commercial information contained in e-comms or revealed in related metadata (e.g. indicating websites visited or location and timing of phone calls). It also aligns the existing ePrivacy Directive with the new GDPR, updating it in the light of technological developments. For example, it seeks to regulate Over The Top (OTT) service providers who deliver e-comms service via apps without traditional telecoms support, such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facetime and also ancillary services such as online chat for gaming apps such as Xbox 360.
The Government provides a comprehensive EM on current policy implications but is asked to consider the impact of Brexit. Irrespective of the precise nature of the UK’s future relationship with the EU, it is clear the proposal has extraterritorial reach and will catch UK providers of ecomms services outside the EU to EU end- users. We push the Government to give its view on the CJEU’s recent ruling on the UK’s Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) in Watson v Home Secretary, as this clearly has relevance for its successor, the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. It is also asked to provide more information on impacts on UK business and regulators as the proposal may only apply for a short time before Brexit.
Not cleared; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Culture Media and Sport Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Security of gas supply
Due to continuing gas supply vulnerabilities, the Commission proposed last year that the existing rules on security of supply should be replaced, with a focus on mandatory regional cooperation. The Government reports that Member States have reached an agreement including: national risk assessments to be supplemented, rather than replaced, by regional risk assessments; and Member States’ retention of control over how solidarity measures are applied in emergency situations.
This was the first time the Committee had considered this document since the EU Referendum. The Committee was disappointed that the Government’s letter made no reference to Brexit and therefore put a number of questions to the Government about security of gas supply post-Brexit. The Committee decided not to accede to the Minister’s request that the document be cleared from scrutiny following new information suggesting that agreement is not imminent.
Not cleared; further information requested; drawn to the attention of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
Vehicle type approval
In order to focus on better enforcement of the existing vehicle type approval standards the Commission has proposed, partly in response to the Volkswagen scandal, a Regulation to replace the existing EU framework legislation which governs type approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles. We have now heard that the Government has been exploring, with stakeholders, the impacts, costs and benefits of the proposal, that progress in Council working group consideration of the proposed Regulation has so far been very slow, but that the Maltese Presidency intends to continue these discussions. The Government, noting the apparent desire of some Member States to maintain the current system as far as possible, says that it intends to support the majority of the measures included in the draft text, with some refinements. We have asked the Government, when it next reports, to tell us of its assessment of how much weight the UK will carry post-Brexit in adoption of international vehicle type approval standards by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which would be applicable in the EU in accordance with the proposed Regulation.
Not cleared; further information requested.
Documents drawn to the attention of select committees:
(‘NC’ indicates document is ‘not cleared’ from scrutiny; ‘C’ indicates document is ‘cleared’)
Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee: European Pillar of Social Rights [Commission Communication (C)]; Digital Single Market: Cross-border portability of online content [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; Cooperation on enforcement of consumer protection laws [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; Security of gas supply [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; Digital Single Market: Wholesale roaming charges [(a) Commission Report, (b) Proposed Regulation (C)]
Culture Media and Sport Committee: Data Protection and the EU institutions [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; ePrivacy [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; Digital Single Market: Wholesale roaming charges [(a) Commission Report, (b) Proposed Regulation (C)]
Education Committee: European Pillar of Social Rights [Commission Communication (C)]
Exiting the European Union Committee: Digital Single Market: Cross-border portability of online content [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; Establishing a European Travel Information and Authorisation System [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; Digital Single Market: Wholesale roaming charges [(a) Commission Report, (b) Proposed Regulation (C)]
Foreign Affairs Committee: Resumption of Generalised Trade Preferences to Sri Lanka [Commission Delegated Regulation (C)]
Health Committee: European Pillar of Social Rights [Commission Communication (C)]
Home Affairs Committee: Criminal law measures to counter money laundering [Proposed Directive (NC)]; Establishing a European Travel Information and Authorisation System [Proposed Regulation (NC)]; The Resumption of transfers of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin rules [Commission Recommendation (NC)]
Joint Committee on Human Rights: The Resumption of transfers of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin rules [Commission Recommendation (NC)]; Resumption of Generalised Trade Preferences to Sri Lanka [Commission Delegated Regulation (C)]; ePrivacy [Proposed Regulation (NC)]
Women and Equalities Committee: European Pillar of Social Rights [Commission Communication (C)]
Work and Pensions Committee: European Pillar of Social Rights [Commission Communication (C)]; Coordination of social security systems [Proposed Regulation (NC)]
10 February 2017