M. JACQUES SANTER

HL Deb 26 July 1994 vol 557 c76WA

Lord Clinton-Davis

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they accept that the speech made by M. Jacques Santer to Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 19th July 1994 expressed support for European integration, a single currency and extension of qualified majority voting, and opposed Britain's opt-out of the social protocol to the Maastricht Treaty, and, if so, whether they remain of the view stated by the Prime Minister on 15th July 1994 that M. Santer is the right man in the right place at the right time.

Lord Henley

There is no official record of M. Santer's exchanges with members of the political groups in the European Parliament on 19th July. But M. Santer has made clear, most recently in his speech to the European Parliament Plenary on 20th July, and in his interview with theLuxemburger Wort on 14th July, that he believes in decentralisation, subsidiarity, free trade, the Atlantic Alliance and enlargement. As Commission President, he will be Treaty-bound to respect our opt-outs from the social chapter and from the third stage of economic and monetary union. The Government therefore remain of the view attributed to the Prime Minister.