§ Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions the EEC Council of Ministers has acted by qualified majority; and on how many occasions a member country has used the veto contained in the Luxembourg Agreement.
Mr. James CallaghanIn practice the Council has in recent years only rarely resorted to formal voting procedures, for example, on detailed administrative points in the budget. The question of formal vetoes has not arisen, because the practice of the Council is to continue discussion of questions of policy until there is sufficient area of agreement to enable a consensus to emerge.