European Community Secondary Legislation (Hansard, 2 May 1974)

§ Mr. Edward Short

The Government tabled on 29th April a motion to set up the House scrutiny committee proposed last November in the Second Report of the Select Committee on European Community Secondary Legislation (the Foster Committee).

The principal purpose of this committee, in accordance with the recommendations of the report, is to assist the House to identify those proposals for Community secondary legislation which are of particular importance to the House and to the country. This is an essential 524W basis for the effective involvement of Parliament in the consideration of such proposals before decisions are taken in the Council of Ministers. I hope this committee can begin its important work in the very near future.

Ministers and Departments will do all they can to assist the new committee and will, of course, be available to appear before the committee and to give evidence about Community proposals, as required. A new senior House official is to be appointed, as proposed in the report, to assist the committee in dealing with the legal implications of proposals, and the Government will provide further staffing support, including research assistance, to the committee, as the need shows itself.

I have already indicated to the House, on 18th March, the Government's acceptance of the other main recommendations made in the report. In particular, the Government accept that in future ministerial oral statements should accompany the monthly written forecasts of Council business; that Government reports should be made twice a year to Parliament on EEC matters generally; that these reports should be debated on two allotted days; that, in addition, four further days should be allocated to general EEC matters; and that a place for Questions relating to EEC matters should be specifically allocated in the Question rota.

Discussions will take place through the usual channels regarding the apportionment between Government and Opposition time of these further days for the debate of Community matters, and the most convenient way of providing an appropriate slot in the Question rota.

Whilst departmental Ministers will continue to be answerable to the House in respect of the substance of particular proposals for European Community secondary legislation, the Minister with overall responsibility for the supply of information to the House about such proposals will be my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. It is not considered that the appointment of an additional Law Officer specifically concerned with these matters would be justified, but this proposal will be kept under review. The present Law Officers will be available to advise the committee on the legal implications of particular proposals.

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Besides this further allotted time for the debate of Community matters there will be the normal opportunities for debate and, if necessary, the use of the provisions of the Standing Order No. 9 procedure. I do not think a special SO9 procedure for Community matters is needed. Provided the scrutiny committee makes its views known in sufficient time, I can assure the House that it is the Government's firm intention that the debate of any proposal which the committee reports as being of extreme urgency and importance should take place before a final decision is taken in the Council of Ministers.

The establishment of this committee represents a further important step in the construction of an effective system of parliamentary scrutiny over proposals for Community secondary legislation. The measures taken, following the Foster Committee's First Report, for the notification of the House were the first step. The new scrutiny committee and the implementation of the other recommendations to which I have referred will be a further step. But this does not rule out in any way the consideration of further measures which experience may show are necessary in order to secure a proper degree of parliamentary control in these matters.