§ Mr. BeithQ.35 asked the Prime Minister when Her Majesty's Government will be replying to the House of Lords report on direct elections to the European Parliament; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterThe European assembly's proposals for a uniform electoral procedure would require member states to hold European assembly elections under a list system of proportional representation with three to 15 member constituencies and to give the vote to all their nationals irrespective of their place of residence in the community. The report on these proposals by the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities makes no recommendation on the electoral system and does not therefore call for a reply. On the franchise, the Committee recommends that the Government should give the vote in time for the 1984 European Parliament elections to all
456WBritish subjects"—British citizens and other Commonwealth citizens—who have within a fixed period of, say, 10 years, been registered as electors for parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom".As my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department said in another place on 14 March—[Vol. 440, c. 558]—the Government's view is that legislation in this field must wait for agreement to be reached in the Council of Ministers. The Committee did not recommend a debate.