HL Deb 16 July 1992 vol 539 cc41-2WA
Lord O'Hagan

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they agree with the provision in Protocol 14 (the Social Chapter) to the Treaty on Maastricht that management and labour should be given power to enter into contractual relations, including agreements, at Community level; and whether they agree with the provision that it should be possible for such agreements to be endorsed at the request of the parties by a Council decision on a proposal from the Commission; and

Whether they consider that Articles 3 and 4 of Protocol 14 to the Treaty of Maastricht permit Community legislation that bypasses national parliaments and the European Parliament; and

What is their interpretation of Article 4(1) of Protocol 14 to the Treaty of Maastricht; and

What is their interpretation of the phrase "working conditions" in Article 2 of Protocol 14 to the Treaty of Maastricht; and

What they consider would be the consequences for legislative procedures in the field of employment in each of the member states of the Community if Protocol 14 to the Treaty of Maastricht were ratified.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Employment (Viscount Ullswater)

The provisions referred to do not appear in the protocol on social policy agreed at Maastricht, but in a separate agreement on social policy concluded between the 11 other member states of the European Community which is annexed to the protocol. The protocol authorises those 11 member states to have recourse to the institutions, procedures and mechanisms of the Treaty of Rome for the purposes of talking among themselves and applying as far as they are concerned acts and decisions to give effect to their agreement. It states that acts adopted under the agreement shall not be applicable to the United Kingdom, and that both the protocol itself and the agreement are without prejudice to the provisions of the Treaty.

In the Government's view, the relationship between employer and trade union organisations at the European level is a matter for those organisations themselves to determine. The Government made clear both before and at Maastricht that they would not accept provisions which would allow contractual agreements concluded between employer and trade union organisations at the European level to be imposed on employers and employees throughout the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom is not a party to the agreement on social policy, and the interpretation of its provisions, including those on "working conditions", is a matter for the member states who signed it and, in the final analysis, for the European Court of Justice once the Maastricht Treaty has entered into force. Legislative procedures in other member states are a matter for the governments concerned.

The extent and nature of the use of their agreement would also be a matter for the 11 Community countries concerned. The social provisions of the Treaty of Rome, which are reaffirmed in the Maastricht Treaty, remain the basis for essential Community action in the field of social affairs among the 12 member states.