§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which EU documents are expected to be placed before the European Council at its meeting on 23 and 24 March; what parliamentary(a) debate and (b) scrutiny each such document has been or will be given; and what will be the status of such documents following the meeting. [112998]
§ Mr. VazThe European Council in Lisbon on 23–24 March is an extraordinary European Council meeting. We do not expect any proposals for Community legislation to be presented to Lisbon.
We have received a paper for Lisbon on "Employment, economic reforms and social cohesion—towards a Europe based on innovation and knowledge" from the Presidency, which we have already presented to the European Scrutiny Committee for information. We will also be sending the European Scrutiny Committee the Government's position on the Lisbon European Council and a paper by the Commission in advance of the meeting.
We expect that there will be a parliamentary statement on the outcome of Lisbon after the meeting.