HC Deb 27 June 2000 vol 352 c465W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his policy towards current EU discussions on(a) rights to family reunification and (b) temporary protection of displaced people. [127195]

Mrs. Roche

The Government have decided not to opt into the European Commission's proposal for a Directive on the right to family reunification. Our decision was based on concern that opting into the proposal would remove the United Kingdom's ability to formulate and adjust policies in relation to family reunification as a matter of domestic law.

However, in remaining outside this proposal, it is not the Government's intention that the United Kingdom should be seriously out of line with our European partners in this important area of immigration policy. For that reason we shall continue to participate fully in discussion of the text.

As to the Commission's recent proposals on temporary protection for displaced persons, negotiations over this text have not yet begun. The Government will participate actively in those discussions.