§ Mr. BerryTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which councillors appointed by him to the Committee of the Regions are no longer elected members of local authorities; and what plans he has to request them to stand down from the committee. [3844]
§ Mr. David DavisTwo of the full UK members appointed to the Committee of the Regions in 1993 and six of the alternate members are no longer elected members of local authorities. The full members are:
- Dame Elizabeth Anson
- Roy Cross (who has since resigned from the committee)
- The alternate members are:
- Doreen Fleming OBE
- Bill Hughes
- Marcus Humphrey
- Frazer Mitchell
- Tony Prior
- Hedley Salt.
Since losing his seat in the 1994 local elections, Marcus Humphrey has gained a seat on the new Aberdeen council, representing the mid-Deeside ward, which will come into being in April 1996.
The European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993, which implemented the Maastricht treaty, states that UK members of the Committee of the Regions must be elected members of a local authority
at the time of the proposal of their membership".Nothing therefore requires committee members who lose their local authority seats to resign.
85WArticle 198a of the treaty of European Union states that Committee of the Regions members should be
completely independent in the performance of their duties".The Government have no intention therefore of imposing their views on the committee, or its members.