SCRUTINY OVER THE SUMMER RECESS
Letter from Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary
of State, Department for International Development to the Chairman
I am writing to you about scrutiny over the
parliamentary summer recess and to forewarn your Committee about
upcoming items subject to scrutiny. The recess period will affect
the scrutiny of items going to the General Affairs and External
Relations Council (GAERC) on 15-16 September. I also want to flag
up items subject to scrutiny which are likely to be taken at the
development section of the 16-17 October GAERC and at other Council
meetings in the autumn.
Firstly, the Council Common Position on the
European Parliament 1st reading report on the Development Cooperation
Instrument (DCI) will be taken at either the September or October
GAERC (my letter of 26 June 2006[70]contained
further details on this). Following on from my letter, we informed
your Clerks that the DCI would now be accompanied by two new instruments,
and not three as envisaged at the end of the Austrian Presidency:
one for cooperation with industrialised countries and one for
democracy and human rights. The FCO will lead on the former, and
we have already submitted an EM for the latter. These instruments
will be agreed in first reading before the end of the year, but
we are as yet unclear about the detailed decision-making points
for these dossiers.
We have been negotiating the draft Common Position
on the DCI over the last few weeks in Council working group and
managed to reach a political agreement at the Committee of Permanent
Representatives (COREPER) meeting on 18 July. This included provisions
for financial allocations. We are broadly content with what was
agreed— The Common Position will now be scrutinised by EC
lawyers over the summer break. The next step is for the Common
Position to be formally adopted by Ministers in Council and it
will then pass officially to the European Parliament (EP) for
its Second Reading.
I understand that you will next sift documents
on 7 September, but that the Sub-Committees will not start meeting
again until your 9 October Sift. The final Common Position text
has not yet formally issued and when it does we will complete
an EM on the document, ready for your return.
However, if the Common Position is adopted at
the September GAERC we may be unable to obtain scrutiny clearance
before agreement in Council. In this eventuality I hope that your
Committee will understand the exceptional circumstances and, if
this happens, I will write after the Council meeting to inform
you of the outcome.
On the other hand, the Common Position may be
taken at the 16-17 October GAERC, in which case I hope it will
be possible for you to consider the EM before the GAERC. We will
liaise with your Clerks as necessary over the summer and inform
them if the Common Position is to go to the October GAERC.
Several other non-legislative items are on the
provisional agenda for the development session at the October
GAERC, on which Council Conclusions will be agreed. Currently,
these are:
— Annual Report on EC Development Policy
and the Implementation of External Assistance 2005;
— European Consensus on Governance
in Development Cooperation; and
— Infrastructure Partnership for Africa.
An EM was submitted to your Committee on the
Annual Report Communication (10875/06, dated 11 July 2006). We
are currently completing an EM on the Infrastructure Partnership
for Africa. The Communication on the European Consensus on Governance
has not yet issued and when it does we will complete an EM and
send it to you over the summer. If your Committee's agenda allows
I would be grateful if you could also give attention to these
before the October GAERC.
To the best of our knowledge there are not currently
any other upcoming items, subject to scrutiny, which you should
be aware of. However, I do want to bring to your attention the
likely Council progress of the following EMs, which we have submitted
to your Committee recently, but which you have not yet considered:
— Special Report No. 3/2006 of the
European Court of Auditors: European Commission Humanitarian Aid
Response to the Tsunami (11200/06);
— Proposal for a Council Decision granting
a Community guarantee to the European Investment Bank against
losses under loans and guarantees for projects outside the Community
(11006/06);
— Report from the Commission to the
European Parliament and to the Council on operations conducted
under the External Lending Mandate of the EIB and future outlook
(11003/06); and
— Proposal for a Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on establishing a financing
instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide
(European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights) (11038/06);
These items will be taken in Council in the
autumn. The Finnish Presidency are keen to deal with the renewal
of the EIB External Lending Mandate at the ECOFIN meeting on 7
November. The Democracy and Human Rights Instrument will be discussed
in the European Parliament and in Council working group after
the summer recess and will be taken at Council before the end
of the year. Finally, the Special Report on the Tsunami will be
considered in working group in the autumn, but we do not yet know
when it will go to Council.
I hope this explains the scrutiny situation
for upcoming Council meetings. As mentioned, we will stay in touch
with your Clerks over the period to ensure your Committee is up-to-date
on its return.
27 July 2006
70 Refer to letter included under `EU External Relations
Budget: Update and Outline Plans for 2006'. Back
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