Mr. GamierTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the 23 and 24 October meeting of the study group preparing for the intergovernmental conference. [40395]
§ Mr. David DavisI attended the 10th meeting of the study group, which took place in Brussels on 23 and 24 October, as the Foreign Secretary's representative. The meeting revisited a number of subjects which had come up in earlier discussions.
With regard to the European Court of Justice, I presented some British ideas for improving the operation of the court, and for helping to overcome problems which arise, especially where judgments may have disproportionate financial implications. Other members of the group had not yet examined our ideas in detail, but undertook to do so on the basis of a short paper which I had circulated to the group, and which has been placed in the Library of the House.
The meeting considered a paper by the Council legal service on options for simplifying the treaties. I applauded the intention to increase transparency and public comprehension, but doubted whether it would be possible to simplify the structure or wording of the treaties very much without changing their effect. I agreed, nevertheless, that it should be possible to eliminate obsolete articles.
There was a brief discussion on the role of national parliaments. I again commended ideas in the European Legislation Committee's 24th report on the IGC, which had been circulated in the group. In particular, I supported the recommendation to introduce a formal treaty obligation that national Parliaments should have adequate time to scrutinise draft proposals before these are considered by the Council.
In a discussion of other Community institutions, I said that all of them needed to be reviewed in the light of experience of Maastricht, and in the expectation of further enlargements. In particular, I raise the question as to whether the Economic and Social Committee was still fulfilling the purpose for which it was intended now that the Commission was systematically engaging in direct consultation with interested parties through Green and White Papers, and following the creation of the Committee of the Regions.
68WThere was a brief discussion of ways in which fundamental rights are protected in the different member states, on the basis of a council legal service paper which has been placed in the Library of the House, together with other Council legal service papers on national parliaments, Council working methods and treaty simplification.