My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (Ian McCartney) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The EU Competitiveness Council took place in Brussels on 19 February. Anne Lambert, deputy permanent representative to the EU, represented the UK. Michael Glos, German federal Minister of Economics and Technologies, chaired the Council.

Action programme for reducing administrative burden

The first item on the agenda was a public debate on the Commission's action plan for reducing administrative burdens. The Council endorsed the proposal for a target to reduce burdens arising from EU legislation by 25 per cent by 2012, with member states to set targets for reducing burdens within their own administrations next year. The UK spoke in favour of an EU target and a national target, and reinforced to the Commission the importance of conducting impact assessments for its proposals.

CARS 21

The next item on the agenda was the Commission's recently published communication on a modern regulatory framework for the automotive industry. The Commission stressed that an integrated approach was required to ensure that both the sustainability and competitiveness aspects were taken into account. There was initial discussion of the Commission communication and it is expected that there will be follow-up discussion at the next Competitiveness Council in May.

Key Issues Paper

The Competitiveness Council agreed a key issues paper which will be put to the spring European Council in March. The key issues paper is in line with UK priorities for economic reform and concentrates on five areas of action: the completion of the internal market; better regulation and reduction of administrative burdens for enterprises; investments in research, knowledge and innovation; industrial policy and Europe's business potential; and strengthening Europe's external competitiveness.

Any Other Business

The Council noted information from the presidency and the Commission on the following areas:

The Commission presented its package of measures on the free movement of goods.

The Commission presented its Green Paper for the revision of the Community acquis in the area of consumer protection.

The Commission presented the internal market scoreboard for the second half of 2006.

The presidency updated the Council on progress in negotiation of the shareholder rights directive.

Lunch

Over lunch, there was a discussion of “Competitiveness, Climate Change, and Secure Energy Supplies—a Coherent Approach”. The lunch was attended by Gunter Verheugen, Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, and Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for the Environment.

My honourable friend the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education (Bill Rammell) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Anne Lambert, UK deputy permanent representative to the EU, attended the Education and Youth Council on behalf on the UK.

Ministers discussed the following issues:

Education

Contribution of the Council (in the field of education) to spring European Council:

The Council adopted the key messages to the spring European Council without comment.

Looking beyond 2010—developing the “Education and Training 2010” work programme:

Ministers had an exchange of views on developing the “Education and Training 2010” work programme. The UK said that skills had to form a central part of Europe's response to globalisation. However, low skills levels are a shared problem among member states, as shown by the EU's poor track record in reducing early school-leaving. The Council should play a stronger role in supporting the necessary reforms by identifying good practice and peer review. The UK asked the Commission to make proposals for focusing the work programme, its structures and working methods, more on the Lisbon integrated guidelines and skills issues.

Our comments on the Lisbon agenda were echoed by some member states, including Finland, Denmark and France. However, most Ministers chose to focus on the role of education in social cohesion, rather than growth, jobs and competitiveness.

Youth

Contribution of the Council (in the field of youth policy) to the spring European Council on the implementation of the European Pact for Youth:

The key messages to the spring European Council on the implementation of the European Pact for Youth were adopted without comment.

Reflection paper on the future perspectives for European youth policy:

Ministers discussed the future form of European youth policy, based on a reflection paper prepared by the presidency. Several member states asked for a stronger role of the Youth Council in, for example, co-ordinating exchanges of good practice, and for better co-ordination with other Council formations.

The UK said that youth policies are most effective when they were cross-cutting and local. We want to exchange good practice with other member states in these areas. However, co-operation at EU level has to be properly based on local needs and developed as part of an integrated strategy. The Youth Pact and the existing open method of co-ordination are the right mechanisms for taking this forward. We do not need new structures and mechanisms.

AOB

Poland and Greece asked for the development of a European action plan on combating violence in schools. The Commission said it would take this topic into account in its forthcoming consultation and communication on schools policy. Portugal, as the incoming presidency, urged caution. They stated that we should be careful not to oversimplify the problem of violence. More information and data about the situation in the member states were needed before any EU initiative was taken.

The Commission circulated a note on a possible European year linking education, culture and creativity in 2009. An interinstitutional declaration on this subject is expected to be agreed in the second half of 2007.

My honourable friend the Minister of State (Andy Burnham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

As recommended by Ofcom in its report of January 2006 into the price of making telephone calls to hospital patients, the department set up a patient power review group (PPRG) in February 2006 to explore how communication services could be offered to hospital patients with a lower per minute price for incoming calls. The PPRG's report will be published today.

The patient power review group has considered:

all aspects of the charging structure;

the requirement to install, with limited clinical exceptions, units at every bedside within a hospital site, irrespective of use;

the requirement to offer services through a combined unit, offering television and telephone and capable of offering added value services; and

the need to clarify guidance on use of mobile phones in hospitals.

The department welcomes this comprehensive report, which sets out the complexity of the issues raised by Ofcom and remains committed to giving patients more choice and control over their environment.

Consequently, the department will continue to work with the suppliers to look at how changes can be made to deliver benefits to patients, their families and the NHS from these systems. It will relax the licensing arrangements from February 2007, removing the constraints identified by Ofcom for new contracts, and issue guidance that clarifies where mobile phones can be used in hospitals without infringing patient privacy and dignity.

Copies of the PPRG's report and the department's response have been placed in the Library and are available on the department's website at: www.dh.dov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/OrganisationPolicy/EstatesAnd FacilitiesManagement/fs/en.