§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their view of current proposals for parliamentary scrutiny of the common foreign and security policy and of legislation arising under the justice and home affairs provisions of the Maastricht Treaty; and whether they will ensure that all proposals put forward by them or by Community institutions for discussion prior to the 1996 Inter-Governmental Conference will be submitted to Parliament and made available to the public.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyI refer my noble friend to the formal government response to the 28th report of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities, submitted to the Chairman by my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary on 14th February 1994 and published as Command Paper No. 2471 on 23rd February 1994. In this response we explained the arrangements we were making for parliamentary scrutiny of matters arising under the two Inter-Governmental pillars. We see no reason to alter these arrangements at present.
We will ensure that Parliament receives copies of the relevant papers submitted to the 1996 Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) Study Group by the Community Institutions. Ministers will provide Parliament with regular accounts of the preparations for the IGC in the course of normal parliamentary business. I also refer my noble friend to the response of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister to a Question from the right honourable Member for Guildford, Mr David Howell, on 27th June 1994 at col. 562.