§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list those topics of legislation contained in the social charter of the European Community signed by 11 members at Strasbourg(a) which can be implemented within the treaties of the Community operative prior to the coming into force of the treaty on European Union and (b) those which may flow from the latter treaty.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe social charter, signed by the other 11 member states, was a political declaration and as 521W such contained no specific proposals for legislation. The social action programme, which followed the social charter, listed particular proposals for Community action. All of these proposals have a legal basis in the treaty of Rome, but many of them require unanimity.
The agreement of the Eleven on social policy contained in a protocol annexed to the treaty on European Union contains considerably more explicit provision for the other member states to adopt social legislation, in many cases by qualified majority voting.