§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (habitat) is; how many times492W it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56804]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Habitats Committee is established by Article 20 of the EC Habitats Directive (92/43/EC) to assist the European Commission in measures to implement the directive.
Two meetings of the Habitats Committee have taken place in the last twelve months. UK representation usually consists of an official from my Department and a scientific adviser from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Officials from the devolved Administrations have also occasionally attended in the past.
The items currently under consideration by the committee are:
adoption and protection of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs);selection of projects to be funded under LIFE (Nature), Council Regulation 1655/2000;needs and opportunities for co-funding of site management measures (article 8);species protection measures (article 12);monitoring of conservation status;raising awareness of the Natura 2000 network;application of the directive in the marine zone, including the directive's extension by member states beyond their territorial waters;forestry;implications of enlargement, including discussions with candidate countries on proposed modification of the annexes of the directive in light of future enlargement of EU, and the participation of accession countries in the Committee.The European Commission meets the travel and subsistence costs of one UK representative at each Habitats Committee meeting. However, it would be of disproportionate cost to identify the cost to public funds of the Habitats Committee's work, as in addition to travel costs of any further UK representatives, this includes the cost of policy, scientific and practical conservation work undertaken by my Department, the devolved Administrations and the statutory conservation agencies, contributing to the UK's implementation of the EC habitats directive.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the Directive on conservation of wild birds (ORNIS) is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56803]
§ Mr. MeacherThe ORNIS Committee assists the European Commission in an advisory capacity on a wide range of issues concerning implementation of the EC Wild Birds Directive and has a regulatory role under article 16 of the Directive considering adaptations of the Annexes to the Directive.
493WOne meeting of the ORNIS Committee has taken place in the last twelve months, on 15 June 2001. UK representation usually consists of an official from my Department and a scientific adviser from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Officials from the devolved administrations have also occasionally attended in the past.
The European Commission meets the travel and subsistence costs of one UK representative at each ORNIS Committee meeting but, in addition to travel costs of any further UK representatives, the cost to public funds of the Committee's work includes policy, scientific and practical conservation work undertaken by my Department, the devolved administrations and the statutory conservation agencies, contributing to the UK's implementation of the EC Wild Birds Directive. It would therefore be of disproportionate cost to try to separately identify the cost to public funds of the ORNIS Committee's work.
Recent issues which have been considered by the Committee include:
definition and overview of pre-nuptial and reproduction periods of huntable speciesprogress and perspective for classification of Special Protection Areasprogress in discussions with candidate countries on proposed modification of the Annexes of the Directive in light of future enlargement of EUsustainable hunting initiativeaction plans for endangered species listed in Annex I of the Directivelist of bird species covered by Article 1 of the directiveuse of lead shot.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee on implementation of the Directive establishing a Community policy regarding water is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56840]
§ Mr. MeacherThis committee, established by article 21 of the Directive, has never met. Therefore the question of UK representation has not been addressed, no items are under consideration and it has not drawn on public funds. The role of the Committee, when it meets, will be to assist the Commission, mainly with technical matters relating to the Directive.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the implementation of the Directive on the incineration of hazardous waste is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56726]
§ Mr. MeacherArticle 15 of Directive 94/67/EC on the incineration of hazardous waste provides for a committee to assist the European Commission with the adaptation to technical progress of the provisions of Article 10 to 12494W and Annexes I to III of that Directive. There have been no meetings of this committee in the last 12 months and there are no items currently under its consideration.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the implementation of the Directive concerning integrated pollution prevention and control is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56727]
§ Mr. MeacherArticle 19 of Directive 96/61/EC concerning integrated pollution prevention and control ("IPPC") provides for a committee to assist with the establishment and maintenance by the European Commission of an inventory of the principal emissions and sources responsible from among the member states' industrial installations covered by that Directive.
The Committee is currently considering the technical requirements for the establishment of the inventory, which will be known as the European Pollutant Emissions Register ("EPER"). It has met once in the last 12 months. The UK is represented by one official from my Department, assisted by another from the Environment Agency. Travel costs for the official are met by the European Commission. Subsistence costs amount to about £100 per meeting. Work in preparation for the meetings forms part of the general work of the Department on IPPC and cannot readily be separated and costed.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the adaptation to technical progress of the Directive on procedures for the surveillance and monitoring of environments concerned by waste from the titanium dioxide industry is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56825]
§ Mr. MeacherThe role of the Committee is to decide on amendments to parameters listed in the annexes to the Directive. There have been no meetings of the Committee over the last 12 months. The UK would usually be represented by an official from my Department. The annual cost of the work includes the time taken to prepare for and attend meetings and the travel and subsistence costs incurred. Specific information is not available without incurring disproportionate cost. There are no matters currently under consideration.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the adaptation to technical progress and the implementation of the Directive on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; 495W if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56815]
§ Mr. MeacherThe role of the Committee is to decide on amendments to technical measures described in the annexes to the Directive. There have been no meetings of the Committee over the last 12 months. The UK would usually be represented by an official from my Department. The annual cost of the work includes the time taken to prepare for and attend meetings and the travel and subsistence costs incurred. Specific information is not available without incurring disproportionate cost. There are no matters currently under consideration.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress and implementation of the directive on urban waste-water treatment is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56800]
§ Mr. MeacherThe mandate of the EC Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive Regulatory Committee is to assist the European Commission's work relating to implementation of the directive and to its adaptation to technical progress.
The Committee has generally met once a year with the last meeting held on 20 February 2001.
Four representatives are permitted from each member state. DEFRA is the lead Department for the United Kingdom with devolved authority representatives involved as appropriate. DEFRA will field two officials and the Scottish Executive one official for the next meeting. The Commission pays for one representative to attend from each member state. Additional experts from the UK cost between £300 and £400 per representative per meeting.
Items for discussion at the next meeting, to be held on 3 June next month, will include: progress with the provision of information for the third Commission report on member state progress with implementation of the directive; discussion of the second such report published in November 2001; discussion of provision of required treatment standards for small to medium-sized sewage works by the directive deadline of 2005; discussion of infringement procedures being taken against member states and guidelines for extensive treatment systems.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the directive on methods of measurement of sampling and analysis of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the member states is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56796]
496W
§ Mr. MeacherThis Committee has not met over the last 12 months. The question of current UK representation has not been addressed, no items are under consideration and it has not drawn on public funds. The role of the Committee, if it should meet, is set out in Article 9 of the directive. Its purpose is to take account in particular of alterations in the levels of the parameters specified in the directive.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the adaptation to technical progress of the decision establishing a common procedure for the exchange of information on the quality of surface fresh water in the Community is; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56799]
§ Mr. MeacherThis Committee has not met for more than five years. Therefore the question of current UK representation has not been addressed, no items are under consideration and it has not drawn on public funds in the last five years. The role of the Committee, if it should meet, is set out in Article 8 of the decision (Council decision 77/795/EEC, OJ L334, 24.12.1977, p29). It is to give its opinion on any measures proposed by the Commission which are necessary to adapt the decision's provisions to technical progress.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Management Committee on application of the directive on the standardisation and rationalisation of reports on the implementation of certain directives relating to the environment is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56802]
§ Mr. MeacherThis Committee has not met for more than five years. Therefore the question of current UK representation has not been addressed, no items are under consideration and it has not drawn on public funds in the last five years. The role of the Committee, if it should meet, is set out in Article 6 of the Council directive 91/692/EEC (OJ L 377, 31.12.1991, p 48). It is to give its opinion on any measures proposed by the Commission which are necessary to adapt the directive's provisions to technical or scientific progress.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Advisory Committee for the implementation of the directive on the limitation of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56817]
497W
§ Mr. MeacherThe role of the Advisory Committee is to assist the Commission with matters on which it is required to take a decision under the provisions of the directive such as reviewing the progress of member states and on the format of reports. There was one meeting of the committee over the last 12 months at which the UK was represented by an official from my Department. That meeting considered the format of reports required under the directive; there are no matters currently under consideration. The annual cost of the work includes the time taken to prepare for and attend meetings and the travel and subsistence costs incurred. Specific information is not available without incurring disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Management Committee for the control and production of substances that deplete the ozone layer (SAO) is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56730]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Management Committee was established under Article 18 of EC Regulation 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer. The regulation that enforces the European Union's obligations under the Montreal Protocol. The committee's mandate is to assist the European Commission with implementation of the various controls in the regulation. It was established by Council Decision 1999/468/EC.
The committee has met twice in the last 12 months. The UK is usually represented by two officials from my Department and one from the Department of Trade and Industry, although officials from other Government Departments and agencies, including the Ministry of Defence and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, have also attended meetings when items pertinent to their responsibilities were under discussion. The costs incurred by my Department in contributing to the committee's work are largely travel and subsistence costs of about £930 per meeting, incurred in attending the two-day meetings in Brussels, and staff costs of about £480 per meeting. In addition to the time spent at the meetings themselves, officials spend a similar amount of time preparing for and reporting back on the meetings.
Items due to be considered by the committee at its next meeting include proposed changes to the critical uses of halon listed in annexe VII of the regulation, a mechanism for setting import quotas of HCFCs from 1 January 2003, and information on critical use procedures for methyl bromide.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Committee for the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56805]
498W
§ Mr. MeacherThe Scientific Review Group was set up under the terms of Article 17 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 to examine scientific questions relating to the application of these regulations. These questions may be raised by the chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of the members of the group, or by members of the Committee on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora. It is composed of representatives from each member state and the UK is represented on the committee by scientific advisers from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (fauna) and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (flora).
The group has met three times over the last 12 months. The annual cost of its work is relatively small, although detailed figures cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs. The items currently under consideration by the committee include:
Application of Articles 4.1(a)(i) and 4.2(a) of the Regulation—opinions of the SRG on:
procedure for making and transmitting SRG opinionsimports form MadagascarPsittacus erithacus"/Nigeriareplies to consultations with third countries on "Phelsuma comorensisreview of annexe B animals subject to import restrictionsAmazona aestiva"/ArgentinaGeochelone carbonaria"/Suriname
- Export quotas 2002
- Private husbandry or reptiles
- Coral mariculture and fossil corals
- 18th meeting of the CITES Animals Committee
- 12th meeting of the CITES Plants Committee
- Preparations for the 12th Conference of CITES Parties
- Mortality in transport
- Negative effects of captive breeding/artificial propagation operations.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Scientific review group for the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56806]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Committee on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora was set up under the terms of Article 18 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 338–97 to assist the Commission in carrying out the functions set out at Article 19 of the Regulation, relating to the implementation within the Community of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It is composed of representatives from each member state and the UK is represented on the Committee by DEFRA officials.
The Committee has met three times over the last 12 months. The annual cost of its work is relatively small, although detailed figures cannot be provided without 499W incurring disproportionate costs. The items currently under consideration by the Committee include:
- Preparations for the l2th Conference of CITES Parties
- Imports of mahogany from Brazil
- Treatment of vagrant species listed in the European Birds directive
- Regulation of trade in primates, rhinos, tigers and bears and parts or derivatives thereof
- Status and transmission of SRG opinions
- Treatment of ecological threat species
- Marking of specimens in trade
- Use of transponders
- Import of hunting trophies
- Annual and biennial reports
- Outcome of CITES Committee meetings
- Imports of reptiles from Madagascar.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Group of experts appointed by the Euratom Scientific and Technical Committee to address basic standards (Article 31) is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56826]
§ Ms HewittI have been asked to reply.
This expert Group is mandated directly by article 31 of the Euratom treaty. Three experts in radiation protection matters attend from the UK. The Group has met twice in the last 12 months. It is not possible to calculate the cost to public funds of the work of the committee without incurring disproportionate cost.
The task of the Group is to advise the Commission on the basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiations. Experts are appointed in a personal capacity and therefore do not serve a representative function.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Euratom Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (CST) is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [56732]
§ Ms HewittI have been asked to reply.
The Euratom Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee is mandated directly by article 134 of the Euratom Treaty. Five scientific experts attend from the UK. Meetings are held two or three times a year. It is not possible to calculate the cost to public funds of the work of the Committee without incurring disproportionate cost.
The main task of the Committee is to advise the Commission on the nuclear component of the Community's work, in particular the fission and fusion content of its ongoing research programmes. Experts on the Committee are appointed in a personal capacity and 500W therefore do not serve a representative function. The Treaty specifically states that they are not to be bound by mandatory instructions.