HC Deb 07 November 2000 vol 356 cc182-3W
33. Mr. Loughton

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on preparations for the revision of voting structures within the EU in the forthcoming treaty of Nice. [135194]

Mr. Vaz

Negotiations on the re-weighting of votes in the Council continue in the Intergovernmental Conference.

The Government's approach remains as set out in the White Paper laid before the House on 15 February.

35. Mr. Forth

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on preparations for the EU Council at Nice as regards changes to the relationships among the EU institutions. [135196]

Mr. Vaz

The Intergovernmental Conference is about making the institutional reforms necessary to allow enlargement to proceed. The issues remain those set out at the beginning of the Conference; that is chiefly the size and composition of the Commission, the re-weighting of votes in the Council of Ministers, the extension of Qualified Majority Voting and closer co-operation between individual member states.

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