§ 59. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the number of the 1,300 instruments of secondary legislation made between 1st November, 1971, and March, 1972, by the European Economic Community which will become operative on Great Britain's accession to the Community; why, by Friday, 5th May, 1972, only 21 of such directives were translated and made available to hon. Members; and whether he will give the date when the remainder will be published and made freely available.
§ Mr. RipponOf the 1,300 instruments referred to in my reply of 9th May, only 150 will apply to the United Kingdom on our accession to the Community. A further 20 translations were published on 12th May, making a total of 41, and the remainder are in course of preparation. The process of selection and translation inevitably takes time.—[Vol. 836, c.341–2.]