Nice Council (Hansard, 21 December 2000)

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has negotiated an opt-out for North Sea oil from the provisions of Article 100(1) TEC, to which QMV was extended at the Nice Council. [143782]

§ Mr. Vaz
There was no need for an opt-out to be negotiated. The United Kingdom has sovereign rights over its North Sea reserves under international law, and the EC Treaty does not confer competence on the Community to claim ownership of or control over them. Article 100(1) TEC cannot be used to displace the framework of rights existing under international law.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guarantees he has obtained on the interpretation of the no bail out clause in Article 100(2) TEC, to which QMV was extended at the Nice Council. [143783]

§ Mr. Vaz
The Government negotiated a specific declaration linking Article 100(2) TEC with Article 103. Article 103 makes clear that a member state shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of other member state Governments or other member state public bodies, except in the case of mutual financial guarantees.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason references to the Western European Union were deleted from paragraphs one, two and three of Article 17 TEU, as set out in the provisional Nice Treaty. [143780]

§ Mr. Vaz
The European Council in Nice approved the Presidency Report on the European Security and Defence Policy. The Report noted that theEuropean Union has confirmed its intention of itself assuming the crisis management function of the WEU.
This position was reflected in the Declaration of the WEU Ministerial Council in Marseilles on 13 November 2000. Article 17 of the TEU includes provisions governing the EU's relations with the WEU in respect of crisis management. The amendments made to Article 17 at Nice update the Treaty in the light of the decisions at Marseilles and Nice itself and recognise the fact that these WEU provisions will no longer be relevant as the EU assumes the crisis management functions of the WEU.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason it was decided at the Nice Council to abolish the national veto on the establishment of enhanced co-operation under the TEC. [143785]

§ Mr. Vaz
In an enlarged EU it is not reasonable for one member state to hold up all the others wishing to proceed with enhanced co-operation, provided that the rigorous conditions for enhanced co-operation have been met. These provide that enhanced co-operation is open to all and that the single market is protected; and will help ensure that there is no development of an inner core.
342W
In addition the appeal clause we secured allows a member state to seek discussion by the European Council of a proposal for enhanced co-operation before any decision is taken. This is the right balance between the interests of member states and the benefits of greater flexibility in an enlarged EU.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason he agreed at the Nice Council to extend QMV to incentive measures in Article 13 TEC. [143788]

§ Mr. Vaz
Incentive measures, such as the exchange of best practice or information between member states, are exactly what we are encouraging the Commission to pursue. Extending QMV to these will facilitate co-operative action on non-discrimination. This is an agenda that the Government are keen to pursue. But, at our insistence, the Treaty makes explicit that QMV cannot be used for any harmonisation of national legislation or regulation.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under the provisional Clause A agreed at the Nice Council, dealing with the general principles of enhanced co-operation, for what reason it was decided(a) to insert a new condition relating to co-operation and the process of integration and (b) to delete the condition relating to the interests of states not participating in the relevant measures. [143786]

§ Mr. Vaz
Clause A of the provisions on enhanced co-operation is intended to reinforce the point that enhanced co-operation should serve the interests and objectives of the Union as a whole, rather than a small group of member states.
The reference to enhanced co-operation not affecting the interests of non-participating members states was felt potentially to be a cause of legal uncertainty, because it could give rise to spurious legal challenges to enhanced co-operation by non-participating member states. This would not be in the UK's interest.
The clause maintains the requirement that enhanced co-operation must not affect the competencies, rights and obligations of non-participating member states.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason he agreed at the Nice Council to the extension of Article 191 TEC. [143787]

§ Mr. Vaz
With UK support, it was agreed at Nice to provide a legal base for a Statute to regulate the funding of European Political Parties, which were first recognised in the Maastricht Treaty.
The European Court of Auditors recommended such a Statute in its recent report into the funding of political groups in the European Parliament. The proposal for a Statute has the support of the main groups in the European Parliament, including the party of European Socialists and the European People's Party.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of the EU and its member states of increasing the number of(a) Commissioners to a maximum of 27 and (b) MEPs to 732, as agreed at the Nice Council. [143784]
343W

§ Mr. Vaz
No specific estimate has been made, but enlargement of the EU will of course cost money. However it will also bring huge benefits for Britain through creating more prosperity and more jobs.
The financial perspective for the EU until 2006 has been agreed under Agenda 2000, which took enlargement into account and created a ceiling for payments.

§ Mr. Maude
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason it was decided to extend Article 137 of the Treaty of European Communities to cover measures designed to encourage co-operation on the modernisation of social protection systems without prejudice to point (c), and for providing for agreement by QMV, as agreed at the Nice Council. [143779]

§ Mr. Vaz
QMV under tiret (k) of Article 137 is limited to co-operation between the member states. Harmonisation of their laws and regulations is explicitly excluded. It makes sense to exchange information with our partners and encourage the development of modern and sustainable social protection systems. This was one of the goals we agreed at Lisbon. QMV will make it easier to bring it about.