European Union (Approvals) Bill 2015-16
This Bill fulfils a requirement of the European Union Act 2011 that EU legislative proposals based on the 'catch-all' Article 352 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union must be approved by an Act of Parliament before the UK can support their adoption in the EU Council. The Bill deals with two relatively uncontroversial proposals concerning the Republic of Macedonia becoming an observer on an EU human rights body and a draft decision on the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment.
The European Union (Approvals) Bill 2015 has two clauses. The first approves the two decisions and the second sets out the extent, commencement and short title of the Bill.
The Bill deals with the parliamentary approval of two draft EU Council decisions:
- draft decision on the participation of the Republic of Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM) as an observer in the work of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. Macedonia has been a candidate for EU membership since December 2005 and the legislation which set up the Human Rights Agency provides for candidate states to become observers.
- draft decision on a Tripartite Social Summit (TSS) for Growth and Employment,
The Bill, if passed, will authorise the Government to agree to the adoption of the two proposals in the EU Council.