§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether the common foreign and security implication of all bilateral treaty obligations entered into by EC member states with non-EC countries are fully consistent with Britain's national interests; and if he will conduct a systematic review of the bilateral treaty obligations of each EC member state with non-EC countries in order to ascertain whether Britain's interests are liable to be affected by the common foreign and security policy in the light of the effect of the declaration on voting in the field of the common foreign and security policy.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryUnder the common foreign and security policy, member states will reach agreed common positions by unanimity. The declaration on voting in the field of common foreign and security policy attached to the treaty on European union does not undermine this requirement for unanimity. Declarations are not part of the treaty, but evidence of a political commitment undertaken by the parties to the treaty. There is no need to conduct a review of the bilateral treaty obligations of individual member states with non-EC countries. Each member state will be responsible for ensuring that it can live up to commitments it makes under the common foreign and security policy, and where there is no agreement on common positions, member states will continue to be free to pursue national policies. The unanimity requirement means that the United Kingdom can ensure that all decisions taken under the common foreign and security policy are consistent with our national interests.