Saturday 11 June 2011

'Local' EU fines - Localism Bill

Courtesy of CallingEngland my attention is drawn to a post here by Anne Palmer on the Localism Bill and the responsibility of local authorities to meet any fines imposed by the European Union. The relevant section of the Localism Bill is Part 2 (page 29), which has had its third reading in the House of Commons and is now at committee stage in the House of Lords, the latter to take place on 20th of this month.

In the Coalition's programme for government there is no policy statement that EU fines will become the responsibility of local authorities - at the behest of a Minister - so yet again we are seeing the imposition of a policy which not one party mentioned in their manifestos and for which the Coalition had no mandate. 31 (6) is most telling:
"If an EU financial sanction notice is registered in accordance with rules of court or any practice direction, it is enforceable in the same manner as an order of the High Court."
What is really incomprehensible is the list of MPs who voted at the 3rd reading to pass this bill and includes Douglas Carswell, Bill Cash, Peter Bone, James Clappison, Philip Hollobone and Philip Davies - supposedly Eurosceptics.

People, we are well and truly 'pro-created'!

9 comments:

luikkerland.com said...

As I pointed out here: 3rd February: Localism Bill turns Councils into EU Tax-farms in Disguise

Am planning a piece on Orphans of Liberty to draw together the different strands of EU regionalism, the Tory localism plan and what it means for the Cantonisation of the UK (and therefore the treachery of the likes of Hannan and Carswell), and how it is not going to be designed for controlling the "Federal Government" in our case.

WitteringsfromWitney said...

l: Damn, how come I missed that post - dont answer that.

Interesting you picked up on Carswell, was going to write on him (turncoat) but will leave you to do it!

Nice post, by the way!

luikkerland.com said...

Re: Carswell, no please, write ahead! The more weight the better I say! If we overlap in places, never mind. At least we'll be thorough.

Paul Coombes said...

I detest the EU and the treacherous politicians from Mr. Heath onwards that have handed over power to the EU. However, I do think that one should be careful to become indignant only when it is justifed and I am not convinced that this piece of legislation justifies it. If you look at paragraph 33.1 on page 45 (incidentally part 2 starts on page 43) you will see that it states "A Minister of the Crown may give an EU financial sanction notice to a local or public authority in relation to an EU financial sanction imposed on the United Kingdom only if the Minister is satisfied that acts of the authority caused or contributed to the infraction of EU law for which that financial sanction was imposed."
Now, we can have discussions about the decision being in the hands of the minister but does this section not say that the local authority must have been culpable? Does this not weaken ones argument "that EU fines will become the responsibility of local authorities"?

WitteringsfromWitney said...

psc: The quote you highlight had not escaped my notice and immediately raises two further points.

1 The Committee of the Regions (COR) is a 'powerhouse' of the EU and nothing will please the 'crats more than a direct line to local authorities by imposing fines. Lets face it, this would be the beginning of any need to interact with Parliament.

2. As it is the duty of local authorities to maintain compliance with EU law then guess who will foot the bill? Ergo, local authorities will end up having to pay each and every time.

TomTom said...

This is excellent. If Councils start paying Fines to the EU directly the Voters might actually notice !

WitteringsfromWitney said...

TT Naughty, naughty........

It is excellent and it isn't, if you follow./....

Anne Palmer said...

Localism Bill: payment of European Union infraction fines by local and public authorities
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1829681.pdf

WitteringsfromWitney said...

AP: Saw that thanks - and thanks for visitig, you are most welcome and please call again.