EU Legislation (Hansard, 13 January 1997)

§ 33. Mr. Bernard Jenkin
To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make a statement about the House's procedures for the scrutiny of EU legislation. [8752]

§ The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Tony Newton)
The House's procedures for scrutiny of EC legislation provide for comprehensive and detailed examination of legislation coming before the Council of Ministers. As the Select Committee on European Legislation acknowledged in its recent report on the subject, our system compares extremely well with systems elsewhere in the European Union.

§ Mr. Jenkin
While I have no doubt that our system compares extremely well with those of our European counterparts, may I, as a member of a Committee that considers EU legislation, explain to my right hon. Friend how topsy-turvy it feels to take part in the legislative process? We deal with extremely significant draft legislation in a Second Reading debate, tucked away in Committee upstairs, and then when the primary legislation emerges to implement European legislation, we have proper scrutiny debates of proposed Acts of Parliament down here. There is no way to bind Ministers or to alter legislation once it has been enacted in Europe. Is that not something that we desperately need to consider at the intergovernmental conference?

§ Mr. Newton
My hon. Friend will be aware that the Government have made a number of proposals in the context of the IGC, not least of which is that there should be a minimum of four weeks before a proposal can be adopted by the Council of Ministers, to allow for proper scrutiny by national Parliaments. I am glad to say that that idea has attracted significant support.

§ Sir James Molyneaux
Will the Lord President consider extending the scope and authority of European Standing Committees A and B, in which we sometimes have quite stimulating debates?

§ Mr. Newton
I agree that the debates are sometimes stimulating, although I am not quite sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester, North (Mr. Jenkin) appeared to share that view.
As to the general arrangements, the right hon. Gentleman will know that the Select Committee on European Legislation has produced some thoughts on 20 scrutiny, which will be linked in due course with a report that the Procedure Committee is preparing. We shall look at any suggestions with great care.