Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for the invitation to provide a summary of the agenda items for the forthcoming Competitiveness Council meetings in Brussels on 10 and 11 December 2012. I am accompanied by Mr. Philip Kelly, assistant secretary, and Mr. Aidan Hodson, who deals primarily with the Irish Research Council.

The first day of the Council will deal with industry and Internal Market items while the second day will deal with research. The first item on the first day concerns the recognition of professional qualifications, a Single Market Act which is going through various Councils. It will allow people with professional qualifications to move freely between different member states. It is aimed at reducing red tape, increasing transparency about the regulated professions in Europe along with the level of regulation in member states, and will introduce a European professional card to facilitate speedier recognition of qualifications. The directive will also introduce an alert mechanism, particularly in the health professions, to protect patient and public safety. It is expected that, following trialogues between the Commission, Council and the European Parliament early next year, agreement will be secured under our EU Presidency next year.

The second item on the agenda is the public procurement package. There are altogether three directives in this package: the classic public procurement directive; a directive on the procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors; and a directive on the award of concession contracts dealing with procedures involving public private partnerships. The measures proposed will ensure better value for money by giving more flexibility, making the public procurement function more accessible for all parties, as well as increasing the opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises through the wider use of e-procurement, simplified procedures, breaking down contracts into lots and limited turnover requirements. This is another priority file of the Single Market Act for our Presidency next year and I am committed to making good progress with the European Parliament to bring this to a successful first reading.

The next item will deal with the Union customs code. The Council will have an orientation debate on the modernised custom code which will align it to the Lisbon treaty, adjust it to the practical aspects and developments in customs legislation. Ireland has engaged actively in all discussions and continues to contribute constructively to the debate. The second item in this area will be the amended proposal for a regulation establishing an action programme for customs in the EU, Customs 2020. The general objective of the programme is to strengthen the Internal Market through co-operation between participating customs authorities. It has a proposed budget of €548 million over seven years. Ireland welcomes and fully supports the proposal for a new customs programme. As with previous programmes, Ireland will benefit from its tools including joint actions and training of customs personnel.

The next item consists of a presentation of the review into the action plan combating infringements of intellectual property rights. Ireland agrees with the broad thrust of the Commission's report and with the conclusion that a successor plan which draws on lessons learned during the period of the current action plan is required.

Following this, the Council will examine an action plan to combat intellectual property rights infringements between 2013 and 2017.

This follows from the review and the intention is to set out a new action plan. Ireland shares the concerns of the Commission about the problems of infringement, counterfeiters and so on in the area of intellectual property rights.

Another issue for discussion is the draft council conclusions on the progress on the strategy for the evolution of a customs union. There are no contentious issues and it is expected that the conclusions will be adopted.

The next item is more significant and relates to an issue that has been ongoing for years, that is, the establishment of a unitary patent. The idea is to simplify the number of languages used in filing a patent in order that it would not be so expensive to file in 27 member states. Two countries are not participating in the unified patent agreement, namely, Italy and Spain, but all other member states are proceeding under enhanced co-operation to establish a patent within the European Union. This will set up a unified patent and there will be adjudication and a unified patent court. The location of the court has been agreed. This issue had held up the process for a considerable period but it is to be spread among several members states with Paris as the location of the leading centre. Centres in the United Kingdom and Munich will have subsidiary involvement. I hope this will be signed during our Presidency of the EU Council and it should finally come to fruition at that stage. From an Irish point of view it will require a constitutional amendment because of the implications for the courts of having a superior court in the patent area.

The next item relates to the modernisation of state aid rules. The idea is to try to improve the clarity, transparency and predictability of state aid rules. The proposal has wide support. It would involve more devolution to member states, higher de minimisthresholds and so on and these have broad support.

There will be a discussion on the second phase of the Single Market or the so-called Single Market act II, which was introduced by Commissioner Barnier. There are another 12 areas covering a broad range. Many are closely related to public utilities or integrated networks, including in the rail, maritime, air transport and energy sectors. Some are more related to the mobility of citizens, access to finance and the business environment. There is a mixture but the areas are heavily weighted towards the networks or hard wires of the system.

There will be a discussion on the Europe 2020 strategy for industrial policy. Europe is trying to upgrade and position itself to be competitive, especially in manufacturing, with improvements in productivity. The discussion will highlight new technologies and key enabling technologies where Europe needs to achieve leadership. The idea is to consider how we deliver this in the areas of access to finance, skills and smart specialisation.

A range of issues have been proposed to member states which will influence the roll out of instruments such as Horizon 2020, one of the Commission's instruments for influencing the shape of industrial policy.

There will be a discussion on cars which, I imagine, does not interest the committee greatly.

The second day will involve a discussion of Horizon 2020. The decisions on the funding envelope will have a considerable bearing. As of now a running tot suggests that the figure might be down by €5 billion and that the €80 billion originally proposed has been whittled back somewhat. The original figure would have represented a greater than 33% increase on the previous round. Nonetheless it is a significant pot of funding. Generally, Ireland has boxed above its weight in terms of the amount of draw down received from the existing seventh framework programme or FP 7. Obviously, we are keen to maintain that. Interestingly, we are the best country when it comes to access by SMEs to FP 7. On a positive note, the new Horizon 2020 programme proposes an increase in the amount allocated or assigned to SMEs in the overall programme. This is a good omen for us. The specific discussion will relate to the instruments that implement the Horizon 2020 programme. They include the development of a broad alliance of activities in Horizon 2020 and the share out. A series of legislative instruments will give effect to the programme.

The last item relates to the European Atomic Energy Community. The proposal is intended to work integrally with the Horizon 2020 programme and contribute to its objectives. It sets out the overall budget for direct and indirect action in the field of nuclear research and related scientific programmes. It will run from 2014 to 2018.

That is probably more than the committee needs and it may be best to give people an opportunity to ask questions.