European and External Affairs Committee

Subsidiarity Report

Response from Presiding Officer

Sandy Mewies AC
Chair of European and External Affairs Committee
National Assembly for Wales

17 April 2009

Dear Sandy

European and External Affairs Committee Report - Subsidiarity

Thank you for your letter of 20 March drawing my attention to your Committee’s Report of Inquiry into Subsidiarity.

When we established a presence in Brussels at the end of 2004, the aim was to provide Assembly Members directly with early intelligence on key EU issues for Wales.  In his role as Head of our Brussels Office, Gregg Jones acts as the "eyes and ears” of the Assembly in Brussels.  I agree that we should continue to use the subsidiarity monitoring network of the Committee of the Regions to help inform the work of the Assembly's committees and our permanent office in Brussels will continue to ensure that briefings and advice are provided to Assembly Members and committees in order to fulfil their scrutiny and monitoring role.

I note and welcome your recommendation that we should continue to work jointly with members of CALRE. The Deputy Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler, is the formal representative for the National Assembly for Wales on its steering committee, and at its conferences. She also reports back to the Scottish and Northern Ireland Parliaments, at the request of the Presiding Officers of both institutions. We have collaborated with colleagues in CALRE to develop e-democracy and youth engagement projects.

We have also developed joint working with other Parliaments in Europe, and in particular, have committed to working closely with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland and Scottish Parliaments, and through the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA).

Yours sincerely

Y Gwir Anrh yr Arglwydd Elis-Thomas AC, Llywydd
The Rt Hon the Lord Elis-Thomas AM, Presiding Officer