§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list(a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU Economic and Financial Committee, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House. [110307]
§ Ruth KellyThe role and responsibilities of the Economic and Financial Committee are set out in Article 114(2) (ex 109c(2)) of the EU Treaty and in the Statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee, which were adopted by the ECOFIN Council on 31 December 1998.
Since the start of January 2002, The Economic and Financial Committee has met on 20 occasions. In accordance with Article 114(2) of the EU Treaty, member states each appoint two members of the Committee: the UK is represented by one official from HM Treasury and one official from the Bank of England. Each of these representatives has one Alternate.
The items considered by the Economic and Financial Committee since January 2002 were those discussed in the following months by the ECOFIN Council. The Government updates Parliament after each ECOFIN Council meeting in the form of a response to a written Parliamentary Question. Accountability and transparency to Parliament is further ensured by the regular EU scrutiny process.