§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many regulations originating from the EU have been implemented by the Department over each of the last five years. [120860]
§ Mr. AlexanderThe Cabinet Office has been partially responsible for the implementation of one EU Directive in the past five years. The Women and Equality Unit, formerly part of Cabinet Office, implemented the Burden of Proof Directive (EC Directive 097/80/EC). However, the relevant statutory instrument, which came into force on 12 October 2001, was laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Minister for Women, who has overall responsibility for women and equality issues.
Directive 97/80/EC has effect in relation to the UK by virtue of Council Directive 98/52/EC, and is implemented in the UK through the Sex Discrimination (Indirect Discrimination and Burden of Proof) Regulations 2001. Its aim is to ensure that any measures implementing the principle of equal treatment are made more effective, thereby providing victims of sex discrimination with effective access to justice. The Directive also defines the concept of indirect discrimination.
EC Regulations are, in general, directly applicable in the member states, without the need for further incorporation into national law. However, some Regulations require UK measures to make them workable and enforceable.
The total number of EC, ECSC and Euratom Regulations made over each of the last five years is estimated to be:
Number 1998 2,852 1999 2,802 2000 2,882 2001 2,600 2002 (up to and including November) 2,125 It should be noted that many of these are small or technical Regulations to amend, implement or indeed repeal existing measures.
It would incur disproportionate cost to identify which Government Department was responsible for each of these Regulations. The Cabinet Office rarely has lead responsibility for EC Regulations.