§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU Tempus Committee, the number of times and the dates on which it has met since January 2002, the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, the decisions it has made since January 2002 and the means used to communicate these decisions to the House. [110494]
§ Margaret HodgeThe Tempus Committee membership consists of delegates drawn from the 15 European member states. Usually, two officials from the Department for Education and Skills attend the Committee.
The Tempus Committee has met twice since January 2002, on 21 June 2002 and 21 February 2003.
The role of the Tempus Committee is to oversee powers delegated to the European Commission by the Council of Ministers to implement the Tempus Programme. Such Committees are known as Cosmetology Committees. The Committee's business is largely concerned with the technical details of the 730W programme operation, such as content of the Tempus Guide for Applicants. In common with other Cosmetology Committees, the Tempus Committee's decisions are not routinely deposited for scrutiny under established scrutiny procedures, unless they are politically significant.
Together with member states, the Commission has been conducting a review to bring existing legislation on the conduct of Cosmetology Committees into line with Council Decision 1999/468/EC, to
simplify the requirements for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission".The Working Group on the Friends of Cosmetology is meeting later this month to discuss proposals for interim reform.
As an obligation under this Decision, the Commission undertook to publish an annual report on the working of the Committees. The second report was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 10 January 2003 ref 5060/03, COM(03)733.
As part of the review process, the UK Government have encouraged the Commission to produce and maintain an electronic database of every Cosmetology Committee, its agendas and recent actions, to be accessible through its website.