§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact on the United Kingdom's immigration policy of the draft EC Directive on family reunification; and if he will make a statement on Government policy on that draft directive. [107070]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland, annexed to the Treaties by the Treaty of Amsterdam, provides that the United Kingdom is bound by Community measures adopted under Title IV only where it opts in to any measure. The Government will decide whether to opt in to the draft Directive on family reunification within three months of the formal publication of the proposal and will inform Parliament accordingly. The Government's Explanatory Memorandum on the proposal, submitted for scrutiny on 10 January, provides an initial analysis of the impact of the draft Directive on United Kingdom law were the United Kingdom to opt in to this measure.