house of lords eu select committee
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© House of Lords 2013© House of Lords 2013
House of Lords
Select Committee on the European Union: Scrutinising EU legislation
Dominique Gracia, EU Liaison Officer
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Remit
‘to consider European Union documents and other matters
relating to the European Union’
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Scrutiny?
Remit does not include the word ‘scrutiny’, but it is the bulk of what we do:
Close consideration of EU policy, law, and activity, and the Government’s decisions and actions related to the EU
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EU Committee and its Sub-CommitteesEU Select Committee Sele
ctEconomic and Financial Affairs AInternal Market, Infrastructure and Employment
B
External Affairs CAgriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy
D
Justice, Institutions and Consumer Protection EHome Affairs, Health and Education F
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A major activity of the House
• 74 Members of the House– Including former UK Ministers, European
Commissioners, MEPs, senior diplomats, and people from ‘business’ and ‘industry’
• 25 staff from the Committee Office– Each Committee is staffed by a Clerk, Policy
Analyst and Committee Assistant– The EU Liaison Officer works for the whole
Committee Office
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Meetings
• Sub-Committees: once every sitting week for 1-2 hours
• Select Committee: usually once every two weeks for 1-2 hours
• Evidence hearings in public, deliberation in private
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Two main strands of the EU Committee’s work • General Scrutiny
– Looking at documents from the European Commission and corresponding with the Government.
– Evidence sessions and a longer letter to the Government for proposals of particular interest.
• Inquiries – More detailed look at an EU policy area, or
proposed EU legislation, culminating in a full report with recommendations to the Government and/or EU institutions.
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Documents Considered
• Around 900 Explanatory Memorandums on EU legislation deposited annually by the Government:
– Legislative proposals (e.g. Regulations/Directives)
– Non-legislative documents (e.g. Communications)
– Common Foreign and Security Policy
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Documents Considered
• Every week, the Chairman of the EU Select Committee decides with the help of Legal Advisers whether to: – Clear documents from scrutiny;– Send documents to Sub-Committee for
information; and– Send documents to Sub-Committee for
examination
• About 40% of documents referred to Sub-Committees for examination
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The Scrutiny Reserve
• No minister should give agreement in Council to any proposal for European legislation...
– (a) Which is still subject to scrutiny (that is, on which the EU Committee has not completed its scrutiny); or
– (b) On which the EU Committee has made a report to the House for debate, but on which the debate has not yet taken place.
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Inquiries and Full Reports
• Approximately15 a year• Recent examples
– Migration– Energy Policy– Research and
Innovation– Enlargement of the EU– European Banking
Union
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Inquiries: Evidence
• Call for written evidence from interested parties:– Government Ministers and officials– Commission, MEPs– Stakeholders: Industry, business, academics,
NGOs, etc.• Selected witnesses invited to give oral
evidence• All published online
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Inquiries: Reports
• Evidence-based• Make recommendations to Government• Major reports debated and responded to by the
Government in the House• Selected reports also sent to Commission for
comment
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Impact of the Committee’s work
• On UK Government – the “guard dog” effect• On Commission – Innovation in Agriculture
(2011)• On processes – Inter-parliamentary scrutiny of
EU proposals.
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Engagement and Resources
• Information about our activities and contact details are available on the EU Committee website (www.parliament.uk/hleu).
• The House of Lords also has a twitter account: @UKHouseofLords
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Communicating our work - newsletter
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My Contact Details
Dominique GraciaEU Liaison Officer
House of LordsLondon SW1A 0PW
0207 219 8637+32 2283 1496
[email protected] www.parliament.uk/lords