EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

HC Deb 18 January 2000 vol 342 cc410-1W

35. Mrs. Roe

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the expected contents of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. [104226]

Mr. Keith Vaz

The Charter drafting body has only just started its work. The first meeting on 17 December 1999 was largely procedural. The next meeting on 1–2 February will be the first opportunity to discuss substance, though exchanges at this stage are likely to be fairly general. But the conclusions of the Cologne European council in June 1999 provide an indication of the ground that might be covered.