Introduction
The draft decision on the participation of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as an observer in the work of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
4. The EU Fundamental Rights Agency ("the FRA") was established in 2007 by Regulation 168/2007 EC ("the Regulation"). Its function is to provide assistance and expertise on fundamental rights to the EU institutions and Member States. It collects and analyses data across the EU and provides advice by way of reports and opinions, raising awareness of fundamental rights.
5. Under Article 28 of the Regulation, the FRA is open to the participation of candidate countries as observers. The draft decision is on the participation of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as an observer in the work of the FRA. The draft decision will not, itself, confer observer status. Instead it establishes an EU position at another body, the EU - the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Stabilisation and Association Council. Participation as an observer, and the conditions of doing so, are determined by the Stabilisation and Association Council.
6. The draft decision is based on Articles 218(9) and 352 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU"). It has been proposed by the Commission and can be made by the Council acting unanimously after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
7. The draft decision was originally deposited in Parliament on 24 January 2011 and cleared the scrutiny requirements then in place. The House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee cleared it without a report to the House (decision reported in the Seventeenth Report of the ESC, Session 2010-12, HC 428-xv) - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmeuleg/428-xv/42814.htm
The House of Lords European Union Committee cleared it at the sift on 1 February 2011, and it was sent for information to the Sub-Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence & Development Policy, and on Justice & Institutions (decision reported in the Progress of Scrutiny Eleventh Edition, EUC-11) - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldselect/ldeucom/11/11.pdf.
However the draft decision was not pursued within Council at that time. This was due to opposition from Greece, which has since been lifted. The 2011 Act came into force in the interim and when the proposal re-emerged in April 2014 the UK placed a scrutiny reserve on the decision pending approval by an Act of Parliament.
8. The text of the draft has been approved by all other Member States. .
The draft decision in relation to the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment
9. The Tripartite Social Summit (TSS) is a regular forum for meetings of representatives of the European social partner organisations, the European Commission, and the Council to enable high level discussion between the three parties of employment and social aspects of the European agenda for growth and jobs.
10. The present formal basis of the TSS is Council Decision 2003/174/EC, which the new decision is intended to replace reflecting changes over the succeeding decade. The main changes to be introduced include that the role of the TSS is related to the Europe 2020 agenda for jobs and growth launched in 2010, which replaced the Lisbon agenda for employment and growth. The Council delegation now includes the European Council President as joint-chair, alongside a rolling trio of rotating Member State Presidencies, and it is recalled that TSS itself is now recognised as part of EU social dialogue arrangements. Also name changes to some of the employers' federations are reflected.
11. The Council published the draft Decision on 12 November 2013. It was approved by the European Parliament on 15 April 2014. The next steps will be for the Council to act unanimously to adopt the text of the Regulation.
12. The proposal cleared UK Parliamentary Scrutiny in both Houses in 2014. The House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee cleared it in March 2014 with a short Report which noted that an Act would be necessary because of the use of Article 352 TFEU - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmeuleg/83-xxxv/8317.htm
The House of Lords European Union Committee cleared it at the sift on 7 January 2014 (decision reported in the Progress of Scrutiny 9th edition, EUC-9) - http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/eu-select/PoS/PoS-9-2013-14.pdf
It was sent for information to the Sub-Committee on the Internal Market, Infrastructure and Employment.
13. The text of the draft decision has been approved by all other Member States.