§ Mr. OppenheimTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to establish the right to consumer organisations to be involved in EC trade and anti-dumping policy.
§ Mr. NeedhamEuropean Community trade policy, including policy on anti-dumping questions, is settled by the Council of Ministers, and implemented by the Commission in consultation with the member states. The Government take careful account of the views of consumer organisations in formulating the United Kingdom position on trade policy and anti-dumping questions.
§ Mr. OppenheimTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to ensure detailed reports of discussions and votes concerning trade policy at Council of Ministers meetings are made available to the House.
§ Mr. NeedhamA ministerial statement is made to the House after each Council of Ministers meeting. These reports on the meetings will normally include whether any formal votes were taken, and, if so, voting details will be provided.
§ Mr. OppenheimTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many Commission proposals made under EC trade policy instruments put to the Council of Ministers in the last three years have included an assessment of the impact on consumers and the economy; and what proportion of such Commission proposals this represents.
§ Mr. NeedhamDuring the period January 1990 to June 1993, the number of Commission proposals made to the Council under the relevant articles of the treaties were as follows:600W
Treaty Base Number of proposals Article 113 161 A. 113 (Anti-dumping) 84 A. 113 (Countervailing) 1 Article 28 47 Article 100a 12 Other 25 Total 330 Proposals with a treaty base of 100a have been included where it is judged that the proposal would have had a significant impact on external trade policy. The category "other" includes proposals with an unspecified treaty base, and European Coal and Steel Community proposals. Proposals amending existing proposals have been counted separately.
Where the proposal is for an anti-dumping action, both consumer and economic factors are taken into account by the Commission according to the circumstances of the case. For the other proposals, an assessment of the impact on consumers and the economy has not been carried out.