FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND CITIZENSHIP PROGRAMME
(10755/06, 13104/06)
Letter from Rt Hon Baroness Ashton of
Upholland, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department
for Constitutional Affairs to the Chairman
I wrote to you on 8 September 2006 to provide
an update on the latest developments on the proposal establishing
a Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and the separate proposal establishing
a Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme (FRCP) for the
period 2007-13.
Further to your request of 12 October 2006,[94]
I am now writing to inform you of the progress made in the FRA
and FRCP proposals. The FRA proposal was discussed at the Justice
and Home Affairs (JHA) Council on 6 October 2006 but no politial
agreement was reached. The discussions on this proposal still
focus on the Agency's geographical scope, the references to the
Charter and on the possible extension of the Agency's activities
to the third pillar (police and judicial co-operation in criminal
matters). The references to the Charter remain the main point
of discussion in the FRCP proposal. I therefore envisage that
the texts of both proposals will be subject to further amendments
before final agreement is reached in the Council.
The Government has submitted, on 25 October
2006, a Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum on the latest Presidency
draft of the FRA proposal (Council Document 10755/06) and an Explanatory
Memorandum on the latest (at the time of the request) Presidency
draft of the FRCP proposal (Council Document 13104/06). I believe
both Presidency texts have also been deposited.
I expect the Presidency to submit both the FRA
proposal and the FRCP proposal to the Justice and Home Affairs
Council of 4-5 December 2006 (possibly even the COREPER meeting
of 22 November 2006) for political agreement. As I had already
anticipated in my letter of 8 September 2006, the Government will
find itself in the position of having to override the scrutiny
process either at the COREPER meeting of 22 November 2006 or at
the JHA Council of 4-5 December 2006 in order to reach political
agreement on a final text of both the FRA and the FRCP proposals.
I would like to stress again, as I did in my
previous letter, that I am fully aware of the importance of Parliamentary
scrutiny of European legislation and that I have considered very
carefully the implications of the decision to override scrutiny
but, due to the timescale set by the Finnish Presidency, I really
do not see any feasible alternative to this decision.
I will keep you informed on the progress of
both proposals.
6 November 2006
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Baroness
Ashton of Upholland
Thank you for your Explanatory Memorandum and
letter of 6 November 2006 which were considered by Sub-Committee
E at its meeting of 29 November 2006.
We are grateful for the information you provide
on the progress of negotiations and the likelihood of scrutiny
being overridden and look forward to hearing from you following
the JHA Council of 4-5 December.
As you know, we examined a revised draft of
this proposal under document number 10774/05 at our meeting of
22 November and decided to clear the document from scrutiny. We
have also decided to clear document 10755/06 from scrutiny.
30 November 2006
Letter from Rt Hon Baroness Ashton of
Upholland to the Chairman
Thank you for your letter of 30 November 2006
in which you inform me that your Committee has cleared the proposal
establishing a Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). I am writing to
update you on the progress of this proposal and the parallel,
but separate, proposal establishing a Fundamental Rights and Citizenship
Programme (FRCP) for the period 2007-13.
I am pleased to report that the Justice and
Home Affairs Council of 4-5 December 2006 reached political agreement
on the Council Regulation establishing the FRA. After over a year
of intense and complex negotiations, the Government has achieved
all its goals with particular regard to the references to the
Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter) in the body of the
Regulation originally proposed by the Commission and the proposed
Decision empowering the Agency with a third pillar remit. All
references to the Charter have now been moved to the Recitals
and are accompanied by a reference to the official explanations
and the legal status of the Charter. The proposed Decision on
the Agency's third pillar remit will not be adopted and the issue
of the Agency's third pillar remit will be reviewed by 31 December
2009. In the meantime, European Union Institutions will be able
to seek the advice of the Agency on third pillar matters but only
on a voluntary basis and only within the framework of the legislative
process. Member States may also decide to seek the advice of the
Agency in third pillar areas but only in respect of their own
implementation of third pillar measures. I am aware of the Committee's
views with regard to the Agency's third pillar remit which, I
believe, remained an area of genuine disagreement between the
Government and the Committee.
I am also pleased to report that the COREPER
of 7 December 2006 reached agreement on the text of the FRCP.
The Government has achieved its goal with regard to the three
references to the Charter in the body of the Decision. All these
references have now been deleted while the remaining reference
to the Charter in the Recitals is accompanied by a reference to
the official explanations and the legal status of the Charter.
I expect that the Regulation on the FRA and
the Decision on the FRCP will be formally adopted at a Council
in January 2007. The Commission will also implement the transitional
arrangements in order to establish the FRA from the existing European
Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.
18 December 2006
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Baroness
Ashton of Upholland
Thank you for your letter of 18 December 2006
which was considered by Sub-Committee E at its meeting of 17 January
2007.
We are grateful for your update of proceedings
at the December JHA Council as regards the Fundamental Rights
Agency. The failure of the Council to agree the Decision which
would extend the Agency's remit to Third Pillar matters is disappointing.
We are, however, pleased to see that some Third Pillar remit,
albeit very limited, has been preserved and that a provision for
review of the issue of the Agency's Third Pillar remit has been
included in the final draft.
Has the Regulation been adopted on the basis
of Article 308 TEC? If so, do you consider that this permits the
inclusion in the Regulation of provisions granting the Agency
a limited Third Pillar remit? We have not had sight of the final
agreed text and would be grateful if you could forward a copy
to us.
18 January 2007
94 Refer to 10774/05 Fundamental Rights Agency. Back
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