{"value":{"id":788757,"memberId":2616,"member":null,"memberRole":"Parliamentary under Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy","uin":"HLWS240","dateMade":"2017-11-14T00:00:00","answeringBodyId":201,"answeringBodyName":"Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy","title":"General Affairs Council November 2017","text":"<p>My hon Friend the Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility (Margot James), has today made the following statement:</p><p>A meeting of the General Affairs Council (Cohesion) will be held in Brussels on 15 November 2017. The UK will be represented by Rory O’Donnell (Counsellor for Regions, Agriculture and Fisheries) from the UK Permanent Representation to the European Union.</p><p> </p><p>The General Affairs Council is expected to focus on the modification of the Common Provisions Regulation; followed by an exchange of views based on the 7<sup>th</sup> Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Modification of the Commons Provisions Regulation</strong></p><p> </p><p>The Estonian Presidency will provide an update on proposed changes to the Common Provisions Regulation (the overarching EU regulation which governs the European Structural and Investment Funds). These are expected to be in place before our withdrawal from the EU and were proposed by the Commission as part of the Mid-Term Review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in order to simplify and harmonise existing regulations.</p><p> </p><p><strong>7th Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion</strong></p><p> </p><p>The Council will discuss conclusions from the cohesion report, which assesses the EU’s Cohesion Policy in recent years and recognises the need for greater visibility in its implementation. It calls for further simplification and flexibility in the period beyond 2020. A discussion between Member States on the themes raised in the report is expected.</p><p> </p><p> </p>","house":"Lords","noticeNumber":0,"hasAttachments":false,"hasLinkedStatements":true,"linkedStatements":[{"linkedStatementId":788760,"linkType":"JointStatement","linkDate":"2017-11-14T00:00:00"}],"attachments":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Statements/788757","method":"GET"}]}