Submissions to the Call for Evidence Contents (K-W)
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Submissions to the Call for Evidence Contents (K-W) Contents ..........................................................................................................1 Kingfisher plc ...................................................................................................2 Law Society of England and Wales..................................................................3 Levitt, Malcolm.................................................................................................4 Liberal Democrat European Parliamentary Party.............................................5 Lloyd’s..............................................................................................................6 National Council for Voluntary Organisations ..................................................7 National Farmers Union ...................................................................................8 Next plc............................................................................................................9 Open Europe .................................................................................................10 Open Society European Policy Institute.........................................................11 Road Haulage Association.............................................................................12 Rotherham, Dr. Lee .......................................................................................13 Safelincs Ltd ..................................................................................................14 Schroders ......................................................................................................15 Scotch Whisky Association ............................................................................16 Scott, Alan .....................................................................................................17 Scottish Highland Institute for Peace .............................................................18 Senior European Experts Group....................................................................19 Smiths Group plc ...........................................................................................20 Standard Life plc............................................................................................21 Swiss Confederation ......................................................................................22 Tams, Svenja.................................................................................................23 The Weir Group plc........................................................................................24 The Wine and Spirit Trade Association..........................................................25 TheCityUK .....................................................................................................26 Trades Union Congress .................................................................................27 UK European Consumer Centre ....................................................................28 UK Weighing Federation................................................................................29 United Utilities plc ..........................................................................................30 Vodafone .......................................................................................................31 Waring, D.......................................................................................................32 WPP plc .........................................................................................................33 1 Kingfisher plc 2 HMG Review of the Balance of Competencies between the UK and EU Internal market: Synoptic Review Kingfisher PLC response Kingfisher plc is Europe’s leading home improvement retail group and the third largest in the world, with over a thousand stores in eight countries in Europe and Asia. Its main retail brands are B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher also has a 50% joint venture business in Turkey with Koç Group, and a 21% interest in, and strategic alliance with Hornbach, Germany’s leading large format DIY retailer. Kingfisher plc welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Government’s Review of EU competences. Further contributions will be made to future consultations, including the “Services” and “environment” aspects of the Internal Market. Kingfisher is a steadfast supporter of the Single Market. As a pan European retailer with large operations in the UK, France, Spain and Poland and with joint ventures in Germany and Turkey, the company has a clear interest in the harmonisation of certain standards and legislation across the EU. Given these credentials, the Group has a major stake in the effective functioning of the single market. Our response to the consultation addresses only those questions relevant to Kingfisher PLC. Beyond the questions of the consultation, more broadly Kingfisher PLC has a set of principles which is considers essential to an effective and functioning EU. They are: o The need to agree standardization requirements o We have problems with third parties o Good EU policy-making puts European consumers to the fore o For business of all kinds, the benefits of commonality and certainly that the single market brings are important in and of itself o With regards to the concepts of harmonization and mutual recognition, it is not a case of one versus the other; it is more a case of proportionality o of policy making Goods – sourcing and common sourcing – makes it cheaper for customers Market integration and the Internal Market 2. To what extent is EU action in other areas – for example, environment, social, employment – necessary for the operation of the Internal Market, as opposed to desirable in its own right? The EU timber regulations are an example of an environmental policy which is essentially desirable in and of itself -it supports many member states’ own endeavors to address the challenge of driving out unsustainable timber from the market – and which is also necessary for the single market. B&Q in the UK has a long-standing policy on only sourcing and selling sustainable timber to its customers. Whilst going early on an ethical timber policy made sense to the UK business, before the adoption of the EU timber regulations, the business was put at a competitive disadvantage with its European competitors; the introduction of the EU timber regulations has therefore created a more level playing field, and ensures that we do not put at a commercial disadvantage for “doing the right thing”. That said, and as a footnote to this point related to the broader question of the implementation of single market legislation, the business is minded that where national authorities are not enabled to enact the provisions of the Regulations, potential loopholes exist, potentially allowing some not to comply fully with the regulation. The operation of the Internal Market 4. Why is the Internal Market so much deeper in some areas than others? How effective has implementation of the Internal Market been, and what do you feel has helped or hindered implementation of Internal Market rules? A number of directives aimed at reinforcing the single market have been implemented in a fragmented way which has had a material impact for the business and more broadly, this has adversely affected the wider business environment, competition and consumer purchasing power (on this point see more below) The Services Directive The Services Directive is integral to the single market; Kingfisher’s view is that its ineffective and piecemeal implementation in one of our European markets, Spain, has had a material impact on the business. The aim of the Service Directive is to “remove legal and administrative barriers to trade”. However, the implementation of the directive in Spanish autonomous regions has failed to harmonise legislation and obligations across the regions. For example, regional authorities continue to impose an “economic needs test”, which requires businesses to prove there is a demand for their services to the regional authorities. Not only does this severely impair the freedom of establishment but it also creates a business environment which benefits incumbents to the detriment of open and fair competition. For example, the region of Madrid has liberalised its commercial licensing legislation in the spirit of the Service Directive; this has resulted in increased competition among retailers with a corresponding degree of competition on price. As a result, consumers in the Madrid enjoy more competitively priced products than outside of that region. REACH The REACH directive benefits the UK in terms of having a common EU approach for the effective identification and risk / hazard management of chemicals; without an EU framework, it would be difficult for the business to operate an effective common policy in this domain. In France, the gold plating of the REACH directive poses a significant challenge not only for our French business, but to the Kingfisher Group as a whole, where the French interpretation of the REACH Directive which poses a challenge to pan European businesses such as Kingfisher to agree group-wide policies to enforcing EU single market legislation such as this. By way of further background to this example, REACH sets a threshold of 0.1% weight-by-weight for hazardous substances (SVHC). Beyond this, information requirements for retailers towards professional users (and the general public) is compulsory.