Y Pwyllgor Materion Cyfansoddiadol a Deddfwriaethol

Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee

Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM

First Minister

Welsh Government

5th Floor

Tŷ Hywel

Cardiff Bay

CF99 1NA

17 July 2014

17 July 2014

Draft driftnets regulation COM(2014)265

I attach for your information a copy of a letter that I sent yesterday to the European Commission regarding the draft driftnets regulation COM(2014)265.  

We are surprised that the Welsh Government seemed unaware of this proposal, particularly in view of the impact it will have on

Welsh fishing communities.

As you will be aware in our March report Wales’ role in the EU decision-making process we made the following recommendation:

Recommendation 8: We recommend that the Welsh Government,

for all relevant UK Government Explanatory Memoranda on EU

policy proposals, issues a statement (or other document) setting out

its observations on the policy matters covered.

In your response, you rejected this recommendation. In our view, the issues raised by this proposal highlight why we believe there is a need for systematic and proactive statements by the Welsh Government on key EU legislation relevant to Wales. 

In the circumstances, we would be grateful if you could confirm what action you are taking to review the arrangements you have in place to monitor EU proposals as they emerge from the Commission and as part of this, if you will reconsider your response to recommendation 8 of our report. 

Yours sincerely

David Melding AM

Chair