HC Deb 11 April 1986 vol 95 cc221-2W
Mr. Teddy Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the procedures under which those parts of the Single European Act relating to co-operation in the field of foreign policy will be implemented.

Mrs. Chalker

The parts of the Single European Act relating to co-operation in the field of foreign policy will be implemented once the Act has been ratified by the member states of the EC and has entered into force. The procedures of European political co-operation will remain, as they are now, entirely separate from the Community treaties. As article 1 of the Single European Act makes clear the existing procedures will be confirmed and supplemented by the provisions in title III.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the dates on which each member state of the European Economic Community signed the Single European Act; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Chalker

Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom signed the Single European Act on 17 February 1986. Denmark, Greece and Italy signed it on 28 February 1986.