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EU Presidency: Competitiveness Council

My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Alan Johnson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. My noble friend, Lord Sainsbury, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, will chair the Competitiveness Council for the research items and the Space Council on 28 November. I will be chairing for industry and internal market items on 29 November 2005. The first item on 28 November will be the 7th    Framework Programme for Research and Development. A UK presidency compromise text has been put to the council with a view to obtaining agreement from Ministers on a partial general approach. The text covers the whole of the framework programme minus the articles relating to the budget, which form part of separate negotiations on future financing. Next, the council aims to agree conclusions welcoming the recent Commission communication More Research and Innovation—Investing for Growth and Employment. A Common Approach. I do not expect any substantive debate on this item. The Space Council will be convened in the afternoon. This will be the third meeting of the Space Council—a joint meeting of the Competitiveness Council and the European Space Agency (ESA) Ministerial Council. Lord Sainsbury will jointly chair this meeting with the current chair of the ESA Ministerial Council (Germany). Following presentations on European space activities, including national space programmes, from the Commission and the joint secretariat, there will be an exchange of views on international co-operation based on a UK presidency discussion paper. The Space Council will then seek to agree a set of orientations on the Commission's recent communication on GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security). On 29 November, I will open the council with a report of the discussion at dinner the previous evening on industrial policy (based on a short presidency paper). This follows publication last month of the Commission's latest communication on industrial policy. We then hope to agree council conclusions on better regulation. These will welcome recent Commission initiatives on simplification of existing legislation, the withdrawal of pending proposals, and impact assessment, highlight better regulation activities in council formations and consider next steps. The proposed chemicals regulation, REACH, is the next item on the agenda. The UK presidency's revised compromise text will provide the basis for a substantive debate. While we are still hopeful of political agreement during the UK presidency, any actual vote will be delayed until a subsequent council in response to a German request for more time to consider the proposal, given the delay in forming the new German Government. I will present a presidency progress report on the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP). This includes a set of principles to underpin next year's   negotiations on management structure and evaluation, which Ministers will be asked to endorse. There is unlikely to be a lengthy discussion. At lunch, Ministers will discuss a presidency progress report on the services directive. This will cover the three main political issues: scope; the interaction between the proposal and worker protection rules; and the balance between promoting free movement of services and safeguarding member states' public policy objectives. After lunch, in the main council meeting, we will have a further exchange of views to draw some conclusions on the way forward. Next we hope to agree council conclusions on EU contract and consumer law, noting progress on work in these areas. I will then present a progress report on council considerations to date on the Commission's proposal for a health and consumer protection strategy. Finally, two items will be presented under any other business. I do not expect any debate on these items."Progress report on the re-launched Lisbon strategy (Lisbon national reform programmes) (at the request of Italy)""Development of tourism in Europe after enlargement (at the request of Lithuania)"