§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the basic principles attached to EU membership, breach of which encourages EU sanctions, as discussed at Feira; and if he will make a statement. [134203]
§ Mr. VazThe principles on which the EU is founded are listed in Article 6(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). These are liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law. A serious and persistent breach of these principles can lead to measures under Article 7 TEU.
The Intergovernmental Conference is not proposing any changes to these principles, but is discussing the introduction of an early warning mechanism in Article 7 to forestall any breach.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy on(a) the inter-institutional agreement on transparency in European Community institutions and (b) extending transparency beyond that agreement. [134205]
§ Mr. VazThe UK strongly supports improved openness in the Community institutions, and has been very active in promoting this. We supported the 1993 inter-institutional declaration on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity, and are pleased that many of the148W elements in it have been successfully implemented. For example, the Council now holds regular public debates as well as publishing records and explanations of its voting.
As for extending transparency beyond that agreement, a new regulation on public access to documents is currently being negotiated by the Council and the European Parliament. The UK is playing an active role and will continue to push for a regulation which allows the maximum public access to documents, while providing adequate protection for the most sensitive documents.