§ Mr. CashTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to what extent the proposed article 8c of the treaty of Rome will require a harmonisation of diplomatic practices among member states of the Community.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydConsular protection services offered by the member states of the European Community to their respective nationals do not differ greatly. Some administrative changes will be necessary to give formal effect to article 8c of the treaty of Maastricht, and procedures need to be established. The details are being worked on at the regular meetings of the EC consular affairs working group.
§ Mr. CashTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the effect on the personnel, work load, organisation and financing of Her Majesty's foreign service in respect of obligations imposed by the proposed article 8c of the treaty of Rome.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAn informal arrangement made in 1985 provides for the diplomatic missions of EC member states to give consular protection to the nationals of unrepresented EC states in non-Community countries. Article 8c of the Maastricht treaty is a move towards formalisation of this arrangement. We do not expect it to cause significant extra work for our posts.