§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will agree with the British representatives to the European convention that (a) the new treaty should enhance the powers of the committee of the regions and give stronger recognition to the regional and local dimensions of Europe; and (b) the new treaty should contain positive and negative mechanisms enabling national parliaments to uphold subsidiarity. [HL2198]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Government agree on both counts. We submitted a paper to the convention on Europe and the Regions which proposed a number of ideas for strengthening the role and recognition of regions and localities. The paper also identified the need to make the Committee of the Regions more effective. We have also pressed for a strong and credible mechanism to enable national parliaments to monitor and enforce compliance of EU legislative proposals with the principle of subsidiarity.
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§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their response to (a) the Committee of the Regions' opinion on the role of the regional and local authorities in European integration; and (b) the resolution of the European Parliament of 14 January 2003 on the same subject. [HL2222]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe work of the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament on the future role of regions in the EU are important contributions to this debate. The Government's position on the matter is set out in the paper we submitted to the Future of Europe Convention on Europe and the Regions. This is available on the convention's website at http://european-convention.eu.int.
§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they consider that the Committee of the Regions should be empowered to refer matters which may infringe the principle of subsidiarity to the European Court of Justice. [HL2223]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Future of Europe Convention's Working Group on Subsidiarity recommended that the Committee of the Regions be given the right to bring,ex post, actions before the European Court of Justice for violation of the principle of subsidiarity as regards legislative acts on which it was consulted. The Government's thinking on this matter is set out in our paper on Europe and the Regions, which was prepared in consultation with the devolved administrations. The paper was submitted to the convention and is available on its website (http://european-convention.eu.int).
§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they consider that membership of the Committee of the Regions should be reviewed; and, if so, what improvements they would suggest. [HL2224]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Committee of the Regions has itself expressed the desire better to reflect the diversity of local and regional governance by ensuring a better balance of regional and local representation in the composition of national delegations.
The Government acknowledged this in our paper on Europe and the Regions which we submitted to the Future of Europe Convention. There, we set out our belief that the Committee of the Regions would function more effectively if regional and local authorities selected their delegations at a senior political level.