§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions since 1 May 1997 his Department has made available to the European Scrutiny Committee (1) Council working documents; [80542]
(2) unofficial texts of draft European legislation. [80549]
495W
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 13 April 1999]HM Treasury receives a large volume of both official, unofficial and working texts during the course of negotiations on EU legislation. In order to facilitate the work of the European Scrutiny Committee, Explanatory Memorandums are often submitted on the basis of unofficial texts if an official text, formally circulated to Member States from the Council Secretariat, has not yet been received. HM Treasury keep the Committee informed of substantive progress in negotiations by supplementary Memoranda or Ministerial letter, sometimes accompanied by a draft text if appropriate. It would involve disproportionate cost to provide a definitive list of the unofficial draft documents made available to the Committee since 1 May 1997.