§ Mr. HawkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason the Government supported the provisions in the treaty of Nice relating to the extension of qualified majority voting. [150194]
§ Mr. VazThe decision to agree to qualified majority voting was made on a case-by-case basis. The Government agreed to majority voting where this will be of benefit to Britain and where it promotes efficient decision making in the institutions of the EU. But the Government made it clear before the Nice European Council that they would insist on unanimity in areas of overriding national interest, such as taxation, social security, defence, treaty change and own resources.