§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what powers under the treaty of Nice exist to enable a member state of the European Union to have its voting rights forfeited. [150116]
§ Mr. Vaz[holding answer 13 February 2001]: There are no new powers in the treaty of Nice that provide for the suspension of voting rights.
Article 7 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, amending the treaty on European Union, introduced the possibility for the Council to suspend certain rights under that treaty, including voting rights, where a member state is found to have seriously and persistently breached the founding principles of the Union set out in article 6 (1). The treaty of Nice amends article 7 TEU to introduce an early warning mechanism where there is a clear risk of those principles being breached. This mechanism allows for the Council to make recommendations to be made to the member state concerned, having listened to its views.