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European Union Committee Newsletter 28 November 2013 EUROPEAN UNION COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER The European Union Committee Welcome to the November edition of the Committee’s newsletter. considers EU documents and other EU-related matters in Recent reports advance of decisions being taken on them. It aims to hold the • Subsidiarity Assessment: New Psychoactive Substances, 04 Government to account for its November 2013 actions at the EU level. The work • Follow-up report on EU police and criminal justice measures: The of the Select Committee is UK’s 2014 opt-out decision, 31 October 2013 assisted by six Sub-Committees dealing with different policy areas. • The Eurojust Regulation: Should the UK Opt-In?, 28 October 2013 • Subsidiarity Assessment: The European Public Prosecutor’s Office, 24 October 2013 CONTENTS • Select Committee on the The UK opt-in to the Europol Regulation, 7 June 2013 European Union 1 Economic and Financial Affairs 2 Current inquiries Internal Market, Infrastructure Expected and Employment 3 Inquiry Sub-Committee publication External Affairs 4 date Agriculture, Fisheries, “Genuine Economic and Monetary Environment and Energy 4 Union” and the Implications for Economic and Financial Affairs Late 2013 Justice, Institutions and the UK Consumer Protection 6 The role of national parliaments in Home Affairs, Health and EU Select Spring 2014 Education 6 the EU EU Measures to Tackle Youth Internal Market, Infrastructure House of Lords Representative Spring 2014 in Brussels 7 Unemployment and Employment Subsidiarity Scrutiny 8 Transatlantic Trade and External Affairs Spring 2014 Investment Partnership HOUSE OF LORDS Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Waste Prevention Spring 2014 LONDON Environment and Energy SW1A 0PW Future Justice and Home Affairs Home Affairs, Health and Spring 2014 Programme Education EMAIL: [email protected] Select Committee on the European Union Inquiry into the role of national parliaments in the European Union TEL: 020 7219 6083 A great deal of written evidence has been received, which is available on our website. The Committee is part-way through its oral hearings. WEBSITE: During October and November the Committee heard from a number of www.parliament.uk/hleu prominent national parliamentarians involved in European Union matters (including Ms Kjer Hansen, Denmark; Mr Neofytou, Cyprus; Mr Galazewski, Poland; Mr Leegte, Netherlands; Mr Hannigan, Ireland), two think tank directors (Mr Grant and Mr Persson), and leading academics (Professor Cygan, Professor Hix and Dr Smith). The Committee will hear further evidence, including from members of EU institutions including the European Parliament and the Commission, and the UK Government, before producing a report in the spring of 2014. Continued 1 Commission Work Programme The Commission’s Work Programme for 2014 has been remitted to the subject-specialist Sub-Committees for detailed examination, and the Select Committee plans to consider this detailed work in January. For information on the Committee’s meetings, and to read the evidence for the Committee’s current inquiry into the role of national parliaments including transcripts of the oral hearings and a note of the informal session at COSAC, please visit our webpage: www.parliament.uk/hleu For further details contact the Clerk of the Committee, Luke Hussey, on 020 7219 5864 or [email protected]. Economic and Financial Affairs The Economic and Financial Affairs Sub-Committee continues its current inquiry into EU “Genuine Economic and Monetary Union” and its implications for the UK. During October the Committee heard evidence from Sir Nigel Wicks; Professor Luis Garicano, Head of the Managerial Economics and Strategy Group, London School of Economics; Lorenzo Codogno, Department of the Treasury, Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance; UK MEPs including Sharon Bowles (Liberal Democrat and Chair of the European Parliament ECON Committee), Syed Kamall (Conservative) and Roger Helmer (UKIP); and Professor Agnès Bénassy Quéré, University of Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne. The Sub-Committee has explored key issues including the likelihood of agreement of the second leg of EU Banking Union, the Single Resolution Mechanism; the role of the European Central Bank; the views of other Member states including France and Italy; and the likely implications for the UK of closer integration amongst eurozone Member States. The Sub-Committee continues its inquiry during November, including an evidence-gathering visit to Berlin and Frankfurt, and hopes to report early in the new year. The Sub-Committee has continued its scrutiny of various important proposals, including the contentious Financial Transaction Tax proposals being taken forward by 11 Member States under the Enhanced Cooperation Procedure. The Sub-Committee hopes to publish an update report on the FTT later in the autumn. The Sub-Committee has also scrutinised the proposals to amend the 2013 Draft Annual Budget; and the proposal for indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts. During October, Sub-Committee members held a meeting with members of the European Parliament Economic Affairs Committee (ECON) on its recent visit to London. Members of the Sub-Committee also met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland. The Chairman of the Sub-Committee, Lord Harrison, attended on behalf of the House of Lords the Interparliamentary Conference on Economic and Financial Governance in the European Union in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 16-17 October. For further information on the Sub-Committee’s meetings and to see transcripts from the evidence hearings, please visit our webpage: www.parliament.uk/hleua. For further details contact the Clerk of the Sub-Committee, Stuart Stoner, on 020 7219 3616 or [email protected]. 2 Internal Market, Infrastructure and Employment In November, Sub-Committee B is continuing to focus on its inquiry into EU measures to tackle youth unemployment. The inquiry concentrates on the EU’s plan to spend the eight billion Euros that EU leaders have agreed to spend on tackling youth joblessness over 2014-2020. It will look at whether the planned initiatives for these funds add value to work taking place on a national level, also considering the wider issue of whether the voice of the young unemployed is being heard by policy makers. The call for evidence for the inquiry was sent out on 9 September, and the deadline for written evidence was 21 October, although the Committee are still receiving evidence after the deadline. On 28 October, the Committee heard from Government officials from the department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the topic of its inquiry. The following week, oral evidence was taken from three academics from very different backgrounds: Professor Sue Maguire (Centre for Education and Industry, University of Warwick); Professor Martyn Sloman (Visiting Professor of Management, Kingston Business School) and; Dr Paul Copeland (Lecturer in Public Policy, Queen Mary, University of London). On 11 November, the Committee heard from Birmingham City Council and the Greater London Authority, which both have responsibility for the allocation of EU and UK funding in the context of youth unemployment. Other witnesses during November include: officials from the Northern Irish Assembly department charged with allocating employment related funding in Northern Ireland, and not-for-profit youth service providers involved in the implementation of initiatives to tackle youth unemployment. On 11 November, the Earl of Liverpool attended a Meeting of Chairpersons of the Committees on Social Affairs and Labour in Vilnius, Lithuania. The meeting focussed on youth unemployment, and was of great interest to the Committee in light of its current inquiry. Delegates will also discuss gender equality in the labour market, relevant to the Committee's previous inquiry and follow-up work on gender balance on boards. The Committee will continue its scrutiny of EU dossiers, including an EU proposal which aims to strengthen the 'social dimension' of the European Monetary Union. For further information on the Sub-Committee’s meetings and to see transcripts from the evidence hearings, please visit our webpage: www.parliament.uk/hleub. For further details contact the Clerk of the Sub-Committee, Nicole Mason, on 020 7219 4840 or [email protected]. 3 External Affairs The External Affairs Sub-Committee are continuing their inquiry into the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The call for evidence closed on 10 October. On 4 and 5 November, the Committee visited Brussels to take evidence from Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero, representatives of the French, German, Czech and Swedish governments, US Trade Representative officials, MEPs and representatives of the Chinese government. The Committee took evidence from the outgoing Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, on 21 November, before he leaves office in December. Next month, the Committee are due to take evidence from representatives of the financial services sector on 5 December, and from representatives of the automotive sector on 12 December. In the meantime, the Committee have also been pursuing their routine scrutiny work. On Thursday 7 November the Committee received a private briefing from Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office officials on the Government's approach to the discussions on the future of the Common Security and Defence Policy that are due to take place at the Foreign Affairs Council in
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