§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) which parts of the provisional text of the treaty of Nice provide the Presidencies for 2001 with political tasks and initiatives on behalf of the European Council; and for what reasons these duties were supported by Her Majesty's Government; [144777]
567W(2) if he will list the parts of the provisional text of the Treaty of Nice which provide the presidencies for 2001 with political tasks and initiatives on behalf of the European Council, indicating the reasons for Her Majesty's Government's support in each case. [146025]
§ Mr. VazA declaration agreed at Nice, and contained in Annexe IV of the draft treaty, deals with work on the future institutional development of the EU.
The conference calls for a deeper and wider debate about the future development of the European Union, involving all with an interest including the peoples of Europe and the candidate countries. The Swedish and Belgian Presidencies have been mandated to take this consultative exercise forward. In Warsaw, the Prime Minister said that we should start the debate about Europe with the question of what the people of Europe want, and the Government strongly support the consultative exercise.