HC Deb 02 November 2000 vol 355 c557W
Mr. Cash

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on reinforced co-operation in the EU. [135382]

Mr. Vaz

As the Prime Minister made clear in his speech in Warsaw on 6 October, this Government support the principle of enhanced co-operation in an enlarged Union. But this must be subject to important safeguards. Enhanced co-operation must remain open to all at any stage; it must not undermine the single market or other common policies and it must not lead to a hard core in which some member states create shared policies and institutions from which others are in practice excluded.