HC Deb 20 May 1992 vol 208 cc168-70W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a summary table showing in respect of their legislative capacity(a) those topics or subjects where the Council of Ministers of the European Community take, or will take, decisions currently by qualified majority, (b) additional matters or topics which will be so subject in the event of ratification of the treaty on European Union, (c) any matter currently decided by unanimity, or common accord, which will be subject to qualified majority vote in the event of ratification of the treaty on European union, (d) those legislative matters or topics, however initially decided, that will be subject to the ultimate power of disposal by the European Parliament acting in its own right, indicating how each topic would be decided by the Council of Ministers, and indicating, where applicable, both the relevant articles of the treaty of Rome as currently in force, and those article numbers relevant to each procedure that would be applicable in the event of the ratification of the Maastricht treaty.

Mr. Garel-Jones

The articles under which the Council of Ministers may currently act by qualified majority are set out in the treaty of Rome as amended by the Single European Act.

The union Treaty provides for the Council to act by qualified majority additionally under the following articles;

  • 73c(2), 73f, 73g(1), 73g(2), 75, 103(2), 103(4), 103(5), 103a(2), 104a(2), 104b(2), 104c(6), 104c(14)—economic policy;
  • 105a(2), 106(5), 106(6), 109(1), 109(2), 109(3), 109(4)— monetary policy;
  • 109c(3), 109f(6), 109h(2), 109h(3), 109i(3), 109j(2), 109j(3)—economic and monetary union;
  • 100c(2) and (3)—common visa list, from 1996, common format visa, emergency measures;
  • 126—education;
  • 127—vocational training, currently simple majority under article 128;
  • 129—public health;
  • 129a—consumer protection;
  • 129d—trans-European networks;
  • 130i(4)—research and development specific programmes;
  • 130s—most aspects of the environment, currently unanimity unless all member states agree to use QMV;
  • 130w—development;
  • 138e—Ombudsman's terms of reference;
  • 194—allowances for members of the Economic and Social Committee;
  • 228(1), 228(2) —conclusion of international agreements on subjects where internal decision-making is by QMV, codifies existing practice;
  • 228a—sanctions.
  • Decisions under article 104c, (7), (8), (9), (11) and (12) will be taken by two thirds majority of weighted votes.

These changes are parallelled where appropriate in the revisions to the ECSC and Euratom treaties—titles III and IV of the union treaty. There are no cases where a requirement for common accord has been replaced by one for qualified majority.

The Council is at present required to obtain the positive assent of the European Parliament before acting under articles 237 and 238 of the treaty of Rome. The treaty on European union extends that procedure to the following articles:

  • Article 8a,
  • Article 130d,
  • Article 138,
  • Article 228(3),
  • Article 106(5) and
  • Article 105(6)

In addition, under the negative assent procedure the European Parliament will have the right ultimately to reject, but not amend, a legislative proposal under article 189b of the treaty on European union. This procedure will apply to article 49, article 54(2), article 56(2)d, article 57(1), article 57(2), article 100a, article 126, article 128—with unanimity—article 129, article 129a, article 129d, Article 130i—with unanimity—article 130s(3).

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