EU Competitiveness Council

Lord Willetts Excerpts

Tuesday 13th December 2011 Written Statements

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Baroness Wilcox, has today made the following statement:

The EU Competitiveness Council took place in Brussels on 5 and 6 December 2011. I represented the UK on internal market and industry issues on 5 December, and the Minister of State for Universities and Science, represented the UK on research issues on 6 December. A summary of those discussions follows.

The main internal market and industry issues discussed on 5 December were: patents; industrial policy; business competitiveness; impact assessment in the Council; results of the single market forum; customs co-operation; and companies registers. Additionally, there was a lunchtime discussion regarding patents.

A lengthy discussion on patents failed to conclude after the presidency presented a compromise proposal on political aspects of the draft Court agreement. The proposal included the seats of different bodies, principles of financing, an extended transitional period during which users of the Court could continue to use the existing litigation arrangements for European (non-unitary) patents, and greater opportunities to bring infringement cases directly to the central division. Discussions continue and the presidency is planning an initialling ceremony on 22 December, if agreement can be reached.

The Council agreed conclusions on industrial policy without discussion. The Council also took note of a presentation by the Commission on a proposal for a competitiveness and SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) programme 2014-2020.

On impact assessment in the Council, the presidency introduced draft conclusions, recalling the recent Court of Auditors report on impact assessment, the inter-institutional agreement on better law-making and the recent Council conclusions adopted by ECOFIN on impacts of legislation. The UK and other member states stressed the need for the Council to act quickly to translate agreements into practice. The conclusions were adopted.

Conclusions from the single market forum were also adopted, which responded to the outputs of the single market forum held in Warsaw. I did not intervene, but other member states did both to congratulate the Polish presidency on hosting the event and to push for the “professional card” idea, likely to feature in forthcoming proposals on professional qualifications.

Conclusions were also adopted on a further substantive agenda item regarding customs co-operation with eastern neighbouring countries. The presidency and the Commission stressed that co-operation on the eastern border was a priority to facilitate trade and ensure safety of EU citizens.

The final substantive agenda item was regarding interconnection of business registers. The Council agreed a general approach on a directive that will facilitate the interconnection of business registers across the EU. The presidency proposed a Council statement as drafted by Germany to clarify concerns from some member states. This was agreed.

There were also a substantial number of AoB items on the agenda. Of note were the discussions on REACH and services of general economic interest. I intervened in both cases.

The Czech and Slovak delegations presented a paper on EU chemicals legislation (REACH) emphasising the need to focus on the original principles of REACH relating to smart regulation and the “think small first” principle. I supported the paper, and questioned the Commission’s intention to set a numerical target for the candidate list.

Some member states had written to the Commission to criticise a number of elements in the services of general economic interest package. The Commissioner, Alumnia, defended the proposals. I defended the importance of controls on state aid which are instrumental in ensuring a level playing field for competition and promoting competitiveness, as well as the overall thrust of the Commission’s package.

Other AoB items that were covered included: the state of European shipbuilding; European standardisation; results from the European tourism forum; the lead markets initiative; Horizon 2020; the annual growth survey; customs enforcement of intellectual property rights; the single market and services directive states of implementation; European observatory on counterfeiting and piracy; protection of orphan works; the consumer marker scoreboard; alternative and online dispute resolution; and the consumer programme.

The Danish delegation also reported on the Work programme of their incoming presidency.

The main research items discussed on 6 December were: Horizon 2020; joint programming initiatives regarding “healthy and productive seas”, “urban Europe”, “connecting climate knowledge for Europe”, “water challenges for a changing world”, and “the microbial challenge”; partnering in research and innovation; and a Council resolution on space orientations.

The primary discussion concerned Horizon 2020, the EU’s research funding programme for the period 2014-20. The UK supported the package. We, along with other member states argued that the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) and global monitoring for the environment and security (GMES) programmes should be included in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF) proposal.

The Council adopted conclusions on joint programming initiatives and on partnering in research and innovation without comment.

Day two also covered several AoB items. These were: framework programme of the European atomic energy community for nuclear research and training activities; cohesion policy; plan for the European innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing; information about the Budapest declaration on agricultural research; and report of the informal ministerial expert group on simplification.