§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Prime Minister when he expects to place in the Library a copy of the treaty agreed at the European summit at Amsterdam. [5188]
§ The Prime MinisterThe provisional version of the Treaty of Amsterdam, prepared by the Dutch Presidency of the European Union on the basis of discussions at the Amsterdam European Council, was placed in the Libraries of the House on Friday 20 June.
§ Mr. CashTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral statement of 18 June,Official Report, column 327, concerning the proposals for the exchange rate mechanism set out in Annex II to the Presidency Conclusions at Amsterdam if, by resolution of the European Council to which Her Majesty's Government are a party, the United Kingdom has agreed to enter the exchange rate mechanism described in that resolution, even if the United Kingdom does not enter the EMU on 1 January 1999 under the Protocol to the Third Stage of the treaty of Maastricht. [5069]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 23 June 1997]: No, as I said in the House of Commons on 18 June, the hon. Member's interpretation of the Resolution is not correct. The new exchange rate mechanism will, like the existing mechanism, be established by an intergovernmental agreement, on a voluntary basis. The Resolution recognises this, stating explicitly that "participation in the exchange rate mechanism will be voluntary for member states outside the euro area." There is no Treaty obligation for Member States to put their currencies into an exchange rate mechanism.