European Court of Justice

HC Deb 28 October 1997 vol 299 c796W

21. Mr. Gibb

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the areas in which the European Court of Justice has gained jurisdiction under the terms of the Amsterdam treaty. [12134]

Mr. Doug Henderson

We believe that if the European Union is to work properly, the Court of Justice must have strong, if carefully circumscribed, powers. The new Treaty involves a limited extension of ECJ jurisdiction in a way which respects this balance.