§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list his responsibilities in international bodies represented by the European Commission which, under the Treaty of Nice, will be determined by(a) unanimity and (b) qualified majority voting. [146001]
§ Mr. CabornMy hon. Friend appears to be referring to the amendments to Article 133 concerning the common commercial policy. This article extends qualified majority voting in principle to the negotiation and conclusion of agreements relating to trade in services and the commercial aspects of intellectual property. However, unanimity will be retained for certain specified matters (i.e. where unanimity is required for the adoption of equivalent internal EU rules, or where the Community has not exercised related internal rule-making powers).
On certain other matters where competence will continue to be shared between the Community and member states (i.e. trade in cultural, audio-visual, educational, social and human health services) decisions will continue to be reached by consensus. There will be no change to the current arrangements for transport.
The article also makes clear that member states will still be able to negotiate agreements in international organisations, in so far as such agreements respect Community law and other relevant international agreements.