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EU Competitiveness Council

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science and Technology (Lord Sainsbury of Turville) has made the following ministerial statement: I attended the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on 29-30 May. The first day was chaired by Martin Bartenstein, Austrian Minister for Economics and Labour, with Ursula Haubner, Austrian Minister for Social Security and Consumer Protection chairing the consumer items. Day 1 Monday 29 May The first day was dominated by negotiations on the services directive, which started over lunch and continued into the evening. The other main items on Monday were discussions on Consumer Credit, Sustainable Development and Better Regulation. Services Directive The Council reached a political agreement on a common position on the Draft Services Directive, with the UK voting in favour. Lithuania and Belgium abstained. The agreement was based largely on the European Parliament's first reading opinion and the Commission's subsequent amended proposal, modified to take account of member states’ views in particular on the scope of the directive and on the country of origin principle. The revised proposal also contains stronger screening mechanisms, which oblige member states to review their legislation against the ““better regulation”” criteria in the directive. Better Regulation The Council took note of a presidency progress report on Better Regulation. The report gave a short account of work in progress under the Austrian presidency as regards impact assessments, simplification of legislation, screening of pending legislative proposals and assessing and reducing administrative costs. I welcomed the progress made by the Commission and the presidency in taking forward this important agenda and I led member state interventions by stressing the need to match rhetoric with action, in particular on special provisions for SMEs and setting targets for reducing burdens. A number of other member states also emphasised the importance of driving forward the Better Regulation agenda. Sustainable Development The Council held a policy debate on the review of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. The strategy is being discussed in a number of formations of the Council, including the Energy and Environment Councils, with a view to reaching agreement at the European Council meeting on 15 and 16 June. The presidency had circulated a set of questions in advance of the Council to which member states responded in writing. The presidency provided a summary of these responses in the Council meeting. Consumer Credit The Council held a policy debate on a draft ““Directive on Consumer Credit””. Again, the presidency had circulated a number of questions in advance of the Council to which member states responded in writing. The questions were on harmonisation, early repayment and cross-border comparability of consumer credit agreements. The discussion in the Council focused primarily on the central question of maximum harmonisation and mutual recognition within the directive. I welcomed the objective of opening up the single market in consumer credit, but emphasised that any directive would have to maintain levels of consumer protection, and should be based on a rigorous analysis of costs and benefits. AOB agenda items: The Council took note of information from the Polish delegation on EU import duties on primary aluminium: requesting the Commission to suspend import duties on raw aluminium. I supported this request along with a number of other member states. On Euro V. the Council took note of information from the French delegation concerning the proposal for a Regulation aimed at limiting emissions from light vehicles. Several delegations intervened in support of the French delegation. On Public Procurement, the Council took note of the information provided by Germany (along with France and Austria) asking the Commission to withdraw its draft interpretative communication on regimes for below—threshold procurements. I supported this request, along with a number of other member states. The presidency gave short reports about conferences on REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), Consumer Protection and Tourism. It also noted presentations by the presidency on Clusters, and by Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen on the communication ““A new tourism policy: towards a stronger partnership for European tourism””. Day 2 Tuesday 30 May The second day was devoted to research and space business. Elisabeth Gehrer, Austrian Minister for Education, Research and Culture chaired the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) items. Hubert Gorbach, Austrian Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology chaired the space item. A General Approach was agreed on the draft Regulation laying down the Rules of Participation for the FP7. The UK voted in favour. The Council also reached agreement on a general approach on the FP7 for research and technology development. The UK voted in favour. The Council also considered the Euratom framework programme, but did not reach agreement. Lunch and other AOB items: The Council took note of information from the Commission on its recent communication on modernising universities and on ITER but there was no discussion. On Space Policy, the Council took note of information by the presidency on the main results of a conference on GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security System) which was held in Graz on 19-20 April, as an input for the future elaboration of the European Space Programme. The Council also took note of information by the Commission on the state of play concerning developments towards European space policy and the roadmap foreseen for future developments in this area.