MONDAY 23 JULY 2007

Ms Fernanda Ferreira Dias

  Chairman: Why do we not introduce ourselves, starting with Lady Eccles.

  Baroness Eccles of Moulton: Diana Eccles, member of the House of Lords. I sit on the Conservative benches.

  Lord Powell of Bayswater: Charles Powell, member of the House of Lords, independent.

  Chairman: I am Roger Freeman. I sit on the Conservative benches and I am a former minister.

  Lord St John of Bletso: Anthony St John, also a Crossbench independent member of the House of Lords.

  Lord Haskel: Simon Haskel, Labour member of the House of Lords.

  Chairman: My research assistant right at the end is only present for the formal session after which he and our diligent shorthand writer will depart for some intellectual rest.

  Lord Whitty: Larry Whitty, Labour member of the House of Lords.

  Q250  Chairman: Thank you very much for joining us. Would you like to introduce your good self?

  Ms Dias: Yes. My name is Fernanda Dias. I work for the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the EU. I have been working in the Permanent Representation for three years. I deal with competitiveness issues, internal market horizontal issues, that is things related to the Lisbon Strategy horizontally, the Single Market Review, the Services Directive and the package of the free movement of goods. I also deal with consumer protection and tourism policy. Competitiveness, consumer protection and tourism are within my portfolio. I brought a tourist film from Portugal with very beautiful scenes of Portugal. It is a four minute film, so it is quite short, but it is very nice. I would like to give it to you.

  Q251  Chairman: We will screen it at our next meeting. Thank you very much.

  Ms Dias: At the beginning!

  Q252  Chairman: It might help you if I could just give a minute or two on the background and why we are here. Perhaps you would like to give us some initial guidance and then we will ask our questions. We are a Sub-Committee of our main Committee and we deal with the internal market. We have been engaged for a number of months taking evidence from a variety of sources. We have come for our first visit to Brussels and we will be coming back in November after the Commission produces its review to talk to Commissioners. We are focusing on what needs to be done in terms of further development of the internal market, both from implementation, the policing of the internal market, the emphasis upon trying to improve its accessibility, particularly to small and medium-sized enterprises, and the impact on consumers and citizens. We have three particular foci: one is telecommunications, the other is energy and financial services is the last one. We would appreciate any initial comments you might have as to how the Presidency is approaching the timetable for action up until 31 December. We hope to complete our work by Christmas so that we might be able to publish perhaps in the New Year, January or February. Do any of my colleagues have anything else to add to that? No.

  Ms Dias: My portfolio does not cover those three areas that you have mentioned. I discussed this with Mr Fassoulas by e-mail. In the Perm Rep there are 150 colleagues, so as you can imagine the internal market is everything, it is the core of the European Union. I focus on the horizontal part of the internal market and I would advise you to contact my colleagues on those detailed questions. I would not dare to intervene in such sensitive issues like energy and telecoms.

  Q253  Chairman: We are much more interested in hearing from you about the general issues.

  Ms Dias: Okay. As regards the internal market, as you are well aware there is a Single Market Review that has been taking place since 2006. In the context of that Single Market Review the European Union will evaluate what to do in the 21st century for the internal market that we have, and that is a challenge for us all. It has taken two years to think it over. All stakeholders are involved in this discussion and different meetings have taken place. The Commission should present their final report at the end of October or the beginning of November. This is the latest news from them. As regards the content of this paper, it will be a very political one and it will be accompanied by some legislative and non-legislative proposals. It is a kind of action plan, although the Commission does not like to call it that. As far as the Presidency is concerned, the Portuguese Presidency will first organise a workshop on the Single Market Review and this workshop will take place in Brussels on 20 September. It is a workshop that has been organised with the Commission, with DG ECFIN. There were previous workshops with other DGs because this is so wide it involves everyone. This one is being organised with DG ECFIN and it will have the participation of Professor Rodrigues. Professor Rodrigues is the so-called "mother of the Lisbon Strategy". It was her who created and wrote the text of the Lisbon Strategy in 2000. She will chair one of the panels in this workshop. She will give a very good input. She is presently working for the Prime Minister of Portugal and is the co-ordinator of the Portuguese Presidency in his Cabinet. After the report of the Commission is presented the issue will be submitted to the Council of Ministers which will take place here in Brussels on 22 November, and it is the Competitiveness Council. It will be chaired by our minister of the economy. I cannot tell you at this stage how the issue is going to be submitted to the Competitiveness Council because we are dependent on the Commission's paper. If the Commission presents it in mid-November, because they were telling us end of October and now they are saying the beginning of November, we cannot do much in the lower structures. It will be for a policy debate and exchange of views and we will have some debate in the Competitiveness Council on this issue.

  Q254  Chairman: We heard this morning in the margins of taking evidence one of the officials saying mid-November.

  Ms Dias: There are different versions.

  Q255  Chairman: That rather alarmed me.

  Ms Dias: I know.

  Q256  Chairman: Following the Competitiveness Council, presumably if there is major legislation proposed it would have to go to the following Spring Council?

  Ms Dias: The intention of the Portuguese Presidency is to include a reference to the Single Market Review in the conclusion of the December European Council.

  Q257  Chairman: As quickly as that? Good.

  Ms Dias: Not all the proposals will be ready by then because this is a political document that will be accompanied by proposals, it does not necessarily mean that the proposals are going to be ready at the same time the report comes out so it will be scheduled for the Spring Council as well.

  Q258  Lord Powell of Bayswater: I imagine the prime preoccupation of the Portuguese Presidency will be the amended Treaty and, therefore, all the political energy of the Council, and above all the December Council, will be focused on that. I know you hope to do it before December but I would guess that realistically December will be the earliest target. Are you going to have much time to get into the substance of the Commission's proposals during your Presidency or is this essentially going to be postponed to the Slovenian and French Presidencies to bring through?

  Ms Dias: The proposals on the content of the Internal Market Review?

  Q259  Lord Powell of Bayswater: Yes.

  Ms Dias: Even if the proposals come with the report it will be a bit too late because we will be at the end of November by then.