HC Deb 14 May 1975 vol 892 cc456-7
35. Mr. Rifkind

asked the Lord Advocate when he next intends to meet the Law Officers of other member Governments of the EEC.

The Lord Advocate

I have no plans to meet the Law Officers of other member Governments of the EEC in the immediate future—at least in a Community context. However, I am proposing to attend a meeting of European Ministers of Justice which the Council of Europe is holding at Strasbourg on 22nd May, and I hope on that occasion to renew some agreeable and useful contacts with Ministers of Justice from other EEC countries.

Mr. Rifkind

Will the Lord Advocate end his mysterious silence on European Community matters? Will he give the House and the people of Scotland an assurance that his Department is quite satisfied that neither Scottish law nor Scottish legal institutions will be in any way endangered by continued British membership of the Community?

The Lord Advocate

I am happy to confirm what has been stated previously by Ministers from this Dispatch Box, that continued membership of the EEC does not imply any threat to the domestic law of Scotland. It will undoubtedly continue except in so far as it is affected by the limited sphere of Community law.

The hon. Gentleman seems to be suggesting that I am in some way secretive on the general aspect of the EEC. I would have thought that I was being secretive in a perfectly proper way. I have the privilege of answering Questions, not in order to parade my personal convictions but in order to answer for the Government.