Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many members the United Kingdom will have on the proposed European Community committee of the regions; and how many of these will represent(a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesArticle 198a of the Maastricht treaty allocates 24 seats on the committee of the regions to the United Kingdom. Twenty-four alternate members will also need to be appointed. The treaty makes it clear that it is for Governments of member states to nominate national candidates to the committee and to decide how seats should be allocated. No decision has yet been made about how the United Kingdom seats will be divided between the regions of the United Kingdom.