§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of recital 13 of the draft negotiation on surveillance and co-ordination of budgetary positions. [5030]
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeRecital 13 merely refers to a regulation yet to be tabled by the Commission for stability programmed for member states with a derogation including for this purpose the United Kingdom. The Commission's thinking so far on these programmes is set out in the Commission communication "Reinforced economic convergence procedures and the new Exchange Rate Mechanism" of 16 October 1996 (COM(96) 498). This was submitted to Parliament with an explanatory memorandum on 31 October. No formal proposal has yet302W been made by the Commission and these procedures all remain to be negotiated and settled by the Council of Ministers in due course.