§ Mr. Spearingasked the Prime Minister on whose authority, by what means and in what form the communiqué following the EEC Heads of Government meeting on 4th December 1978 was made available; if Command Paper No. 7419 is the full authorised text of this communiqué; and if it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to publish equivalent White Papers subsequent to future similar meetings.
§ The Prime Minister:There was no agreed communiqué or statement prepared by the European Council on 4th 813W and 5th December, nor is it the usual practice to produce one. Command Paper No. 7419 contained the text of a resolution of the European Council on the European monetary system, which was the main, but not the only, topic discussed. The Government decided to publish the resolution as a Command Paper in view of the great interest in the subject both in the House and in the country as a whole. Command Papers will be published in future as appropriate.
As a result of an error in the initial transmission of the documents at the time, there was an omission at the end of part A of the text published as Command 7419, compared with the full text of the European Council resolution. I have arranged for full copies of the final text, as it later emerged after examination by the legal and language experts, to be placed in the Library of the House. The Stationery Office has been asked to prepare a correction of the Command Paper.