HC Deb 13 January 1998 vol 304 c188W
29. Rev. Martin Smyth

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those countries in the European Union which have a claim in their constitutions over the territory of another member of the Union. [20441]

Mr. Robin Cook

The only such case I know of concerns the Irish Constitution, Article 2 of which asserts that the national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland. The Irish Government have undertaken to introduce and support proposals to change the constitution, so as fully to reflect the principle of consent as part of an overall settlement in Northern Ireland.