§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the conclusions of the Brussels European Council have now been translated into legally binding documents.
§ Mrs. ChalkerYes. Following the agreement reached by the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 13–14 June, on which my right hon. and learned Friend reported to the House on 16 June, at column 218, I attended a special Foreign Affairs Council held in Luxembourg on 20 June. At that meeting the Council and the European Parliament reached agreement on the texts implementing the conclusions of the European Council in February on the future financing of the Community. This opened the way to their formal adoption, which took place at the Industry Council on 24 June. The documents have been placed in the Library of the House.
The only text finalised but not yet formally adopted is the directive on the harmonisation of GNP statistics. It has been unanimously agreed by the Council. Because the new own resources decision will form part of its legal base, however, it can be adopted formally only when the new own resources decision has been ratified by all member states.
We will now bring forward the necessary primary legislation to seek approval for the new own resources decision. The own resources decision and the Inter Governmental Agreement are also being published today as Command Papers (Cm. 419 and Cm. 418).