Commission Work Programme 2013

Robert Flello Excerpts

Monday 7th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

It is to the advantage of business and, therefore, ultimately of workers and consumers in the United Kingdom that more such free trade agreements are achieved, particularly with the fast-growing economies of Asia and Latin America.

[Robert Flello (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Lidington]

Briefly.

[Robert Flello]

I am grateful to the Minister, who is being extremely generous. I have great concerns about Colombia and the move towards EU free trade with the Colombian regime, as I refer to it. Under President Santos there are ongoing human rights abuses and there is a huge issue concerning the current peace discussions with the FARC. When considering the work programme, will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind the huge problems with Colombia?

[Mr Lidington]

As I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows, there are standard human rights clauses in all EU free trade agreements. I am aware that these human rights issues, particularly the rights of trade unionists in Colombia, have long concerned politicians and Ministers not just in the UK but in a number of other European countries. This is a live issue and it is one that we raise bilaterally with our friends in Colombia.

The European Council has called on the Commission to publish the proposals already identified in its communication on the Single Market Act II by the spring of this year, and it is encouraging that the work programme includes measures to improve the single market in both services and digital, such as those on access to regulated professions, reducing the cost of broadband deployment and e-invoicing.

We also welcome measures that aim to put the EU economy on a more sustainable long-term footing, including through innovation and the green economy, such as a new climate and energy framework up to 2030. We also support measures to improve transparency and customer protection and to tackle systemic risks in financial services. Better financial regulation is necessary to financial stability, and common rules are essential to safeguard the single market and the competitiveness of the UK’s financial services sector.

However, the Commission also needs to ensure that its proposals on complex financial services dossiers are properly worked out through the legislative process and that new proposals do not simply add to the existing backlog. We believe that the Commission should prioritise only the most important issues to ensure that sufficient time and expertise can be devoted to them, and that proper consultation takes place with practitioners in that sector.

We are concerned about the potential impact of a relatively small number of measures that are labelled as growth promoting. Those include the review of the institutions for occupational retirement pensions directive, which could significantly increase the cost of occupational pensions and reduce investment.

Right across the range of single market and other measures, we are working closely with the Commission, other member states and the European Parliament to encourage them to follow smart regulation principles. This brings me to the second important theme for the Government in the work programme.

Tackling regulatory burdens on business is vital for boosting economic growth. While EU regulation is needed in some areas—for example, in eliminating barriers to the single market—we need to reduce unnecessary costs to business from EU regulation. Our chances of heading off or shaping new EU regulations are much higher if we influence the European Commission before it has published a formal legislative proposal, so the Government use the Commission work programme to identify forthcoming proposals, and challenge the Commission about these in the early stages. We share feedback from British businesses on the potential impacts of proposals and build alliances with other member states so that we speak with a louder voice in Brussels.