§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the institutional changes within the EU, with particular reference to relations between national parliaments, following the coming into effect of the Amsterdam Treaty. [69432]
§ Ms QuinThe Protocol on national parliaments attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam provides for a consultative role for COSAC—the representatives of European Affairs Committees from national parliaments in the European Union. We welcome this development. The Protocol also provides for greater involvement of national parliaments in EU business through the six-week minimum scrutiny period. This will reinforce the changes to our national scrutiny system introduced last November.