§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which social protection policies are intended to be covered by the new Article 130(b) of the TEC, as proposed in the draft Treaty of Nice. [138486]
§ Mr. VazNew Article 130(b) of the TEC is a suggestion from the Presidency. It proposes that a new Committee on Employment and Social Protection with advisory status shall monitor the social situation and the development of social protection policies in the member states and the Community and promote exchanges of information, experience and good practice between member states and with the Commission. Discussion continues on the Article.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria will apply to determine whether representatives of the general public come from organised civil society as proposed by the amendment to Article 257 of the TEC contained in the draft Treaty of Nice. [138487]
§ Mr. VazEach member state will decide its own criteria for determining which members of the general public best represent civil society in their country. The Government will consider a wide variety of nominees, with the aim of making our delegation to the Economic and Social Committee as representative as possible.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those areas which fall within the exclusive competence of the European Commission which will not be subject to the proposals for enhanced co—operation as set out in the draft Treaty of Nice. [138499]
§ Mr. VazDiscussions continue on the precise scope of the proposed enhanced co—operation arrangements. All partners are clear that enhanced co—operation could not be used in areas such as trade policy, the common agricultural policy or the single market.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the areas of social exclusion which are intended to be brought within the ambit of the suggested new Article 137(j) of the TEC in the draft Treaty of Nice. [138485]
§ Mr. VazNew Article 137(j) of the TEC is a suggestion from the Presidency. It proposes that the Community supports and complements the activities of member states in combating social exclusion. Discussion continues on this Article.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which of the provisions outlined in the draft Treaty of Nice as being30W candidates for qualified majority voting are deemed by Her Majesty's Government not to be vital to the United Kingdom's national interest. [138491]
§ Mr. VazThe Government have made it clear that we shall insist on retaining unanimity in the areas of tax, social security, Treaty change, own resources, border controls and defence. We shall consider all the other Articles on a case by case basis.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the regional bodies which will be politically accountable to(a) the National Assembly for Wales, (b) the Northern Ireland Assembly and (c) the Scottish Parliament, for the purpose of the amendment of Article 263 of the TEC proposal in the draft Treaty of Nice. [138488]
§ Mr. VazThe proposed amendment states that representatives to the Committee of the Regions will either hold a regional or local authority electoral mandate, or be politically accountable to an elected assembly. There would be no change to the present position in the UK.
§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place a copy of the draft Treaty of Nice in the Library. [139294]
§ Mr. VazA copy of the Progress Report on the Intergovernmental conference has been informally available in the Library since 6 November. It is also available on the following website "www.europa.eu.int".
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the areas where it is proposed that enhanced co—operation need not involve at least eight members of the EU. [138472]
§ Mr. VazTalks continue on the scope of enhanced co—operation and the number of member states required for enhanced co—operation in specific areas. Some member states have suggested enhanced co—operation in foreign policy in groups of less than eight.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government that the EU's provisions on closer co—operation should encompass the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy. [138473]
§ Mr. VazThe Government support the introduction of provisions for enhanced co—operation to the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy for the implementation of policies which have been agreed by consensus by all member states.
§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when draft amendments to the consolidated treaties of the European Union will be considered at Nice; when they will be(a) published, (b) placed in the Vote Office, (c) available to the media throughout the European Union and (d) sent to the Governments of candidate member states; and if he will publish communications he has made to representatives of Governments of (i) member and (ii) candidate states prior to the consideration of the proposed amendments. [139085]
§ Mr. VazThe Nice European Council will take place from 7–9 December 2000. The Presidency has been consistent in placing draft papers put to the 31W Intergovernmental Conference on the Council Secretariat website www.europa.eu.int. We have passed these to the Scrutiny Committee. A final version of the Treaty will be made available to the media at the end of the European Council; this will then be submitted to Parliament in the form of a Command Paper in the usual way. The Government are in regular touch with other member states and applicant countries on the IGC. It is not the Government's policy to make public its records of meetings with other Governments.
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made on the proposals in the paper Confer 4790/00, "Progress report on the Intergovernmental Conference on Institutional Reform", relating to the extension of qualified majority voting to(a) Article 13, (b) Article 100, (c) Article 137(a)(f), (d) Article 151(5) and (e) Article 161. [138355]
§ Mr. VazI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) on 30 October 2000,Official Report, column 238W.