§ LORD O'HAGANasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is permissible under the Treaty of Rome, for a Member State of the E.E.C. to decide unilaterally to introduce a system of direct election to the European Parliament.
§ LORD GORONWY-ROBERTSArticle 138 of the E.E.C. Treaty provides that the Assembly shall consist of delegates who shall be designated by national Parliaments from among their members. A Member State deciding to introduce a system of direct election unilaterally would have to comply with that. The compatibility of any specific proposal with the Treaty would, however, be a matter on which only the European Court of Justice would be competent to pronounce conclusively.