Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to co-operate with Taiwan on renewable energy; and whether his Department plans actively to engage with Taiwan’s delegation at the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2018.
Answered by Claire Perry
Cooperation on renewable energy forms part of the UK’s commercial and economic ties with Taiwan. In 2017 we agreed to initiate an official-level dialogue on energy as a component of the annual Trade Talks. The first meeting took place in June 2018 in London between officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade, and a delegation led by Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy. The dialogue focussed on renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, grid stability and smart energy systems. Both sides agreed that there was value in further dialogue and opportunities for businesses to work together on renewable energy.
Broader energy and climate change cooperation between the UK and Taiwan is part of our economic and commercial relationship. We expect this engagement to continue in the margins of the 24th Conference of the Parties under the UNFCCC next month, though no formal plans have yet been made. Broad cooperation is vital for tackling this global issue.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support the inclusion in the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market of provisions to ensure that creators receive fair remuneration for the use of their works.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government supports the principle that creators should be fairly rewarded for their work whilst ensuring that we continue to encourage investment in new content and innovative services. We are positively engaging with our European partners to achieve this.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the reciprocal relationships the UK has with the EU that enable collective management organisations to collect royalties from EU countries and distribute to creators in the UK.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Government has considered this issue in the context of its Brexit analysis. It has concluded that the reciprocal arrangements between UK Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) and EU CMOs to collect royalties from EU countries and distribute to creators in the UK are private commercial agreements which are expected to continue after the UK has exited the European Union.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will reconsider proposals to end the export tariff for new solar installations in April 2019.
Answered by Claire Perry
We are carefully considering responses received to the consultation proposal to end the Feed-In Tariffs export payments for new applications after 31 March 2019. A Government response will be published in due course.