HL Deb 19 April 2004 vol 660 cc15-6WA
Lord Harrison

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What they are doing to promote the integration of the Lisbon 2000 agenda into other key European Union policy areas, including the growth and stability pact; the structural and cohesion funds; and European Union competition and industrial policies. [HL2166]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)

The Government believe that the Lisbon strategy needs to incorporate action across a wide range of European Union policy areas if it is to be effective. The Government set out their approach in the progress reportAdvancing long term prosperity: economic reform in an enlarged Europe (February 2004).

The recent spring European Council reflected this, with conclusions including support for the four presidency initiative on regulatory reform, implementation of the findings of the Kok review of European labour markets, and action to improve the single market for services. The Government are pursuing:

reform of the structural and cohesion funds so that member states can pursue effective policies for regional growth and developing human capital within a framework which has sufficient flexibility to meet their differing needs as set out in the Government's consultation document A modern regional policy for the United Kingdom (March 2003) and confirmed in the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's Statement to the House on 17 September 2003; and

an approach to competition and industrial policy founded on flexible, dynamic markets. This includes effective control of economically unjustified state aid, strong competition policy including proactive investigation of markets and sectors, and reforms to the EU regulatory framework to promote flexibility and growth.

The Government published a discussion paper on the stability and growth pact (SGP) alongside the Budget. As the Chancellor said in his Budget Statement, the discussion paper compares the UK framework with the rules of the European Union's SGP and examines the principles, based on UK experience, which should guide the evolution of fiscal policy.