HC Deb 07 July 1994 vol 246 c286W
Sir Thomas Arnold

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many judgments handed down by the European Court of Justice have gone(a) in favour of and (b) against each member country.

Mr. Heathcoat Amory

Cases can be brought before the European Court of Justice by various parties under a number of treaty articles. Many cases do not involve member states at all. It would involve disproportionate cost to identify all the cases since the Community was founded which involved member states directly. If the Commission considers that a member state has failed to fulfil its obligations under the treaty, it may take action under Article 169, which can lead to proceedings before the European Court of Justice. Details of judgments issued on cases brought since 1989 under article 169 can be found in the Commission's eleventh annual report on monitoring the application of Community law. A copy of the report is available in the House. The figures for these cases are as follows:

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy in the context of(a) the Council of Europe (b) the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and (c) the United Nations on the human rights implications for Latvia's Russian population of the recent laws on citizenship.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

President Ulmanis has returned to Parliament for reconsideration the draft citizenship law passed by the Latvian Parliament in June. We are urging the Latvians to incorporate into the law recommendations made by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe.