§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list those areas(a) the EU Presidency, (b) the Commission and (c) the Government have expressed a willingness to discuss at the forthcoming Inter governmental Conference. [95543]
§ The Prime MinisterNeither the Presidency nor the Commission has yet formally stated its position on the IGC. The Presidency is currently preparing a report that it will present to the Helsinki European Council in December. The Dehaene Report, published on 18 October, was commissioned to feed ideas into the Commission before the next IGC. The Commission will now consider the report and submit its formal opinion in due course.
The Government, along with the other member states outlined their position at the European Council in Cologne. This called for an IGC dealing primarily with the institutional issues not resolved at Amsterdam (Commission size, vote reweighting, possible extension of QMV). The Government will issue a White Paper before the IGC begins next year.