§ Lord Shore of Stepneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether any of the agreements reached at the Tampere Heads of Government Council on 16 October concerning asylum and immigration diminished or affected in any way the provision in the Protocol to the Amsterdam Treaty on the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland which states in Article 2 that no provision of title IIIA of the Treaty "shall be binding upon or applicable in the United Kingdom". [HL4331]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonNone of the conclusions of the Special European Council at Tampere adversely affect the provisions of the Protocol to the Amsterdam Treaty on the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
§ Lord Shore of Stepneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
With reference to the Protocol to the Amsterdam Treaty on the Position of the United Kingdom and Ireland which exempts the United Kingdom from the provisions of the title IIIA of the treaty, on how many occasions and in what matters they have notified the President of the Council of their wish to take part in measures affecting immigration and asylum as allowed for in Articles III, IV and VI of the Protocol; and with what results. [HL4333]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThere has been one occasion on which the United Kingdom has notified the President of the Council of its intention to take part in measures affecting immigration and asylum. This was on 7 October 1999, in respect of the proposed Eurodac Regulation, which concerns a central electronic fingerprint database for asylum seekers and for certain illegal entrants. The result of this is that the United Kingdom will be able to participate in the adoption and application of a system which will make it easier to establish which member state has responsibility for considering an asylum application under the Dublin Convention.