HC Deb 04 March 2002 vol 381 cc62-3W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will improve the publication and availability to Parliament of relevant draft European directives, decisions and regulations prior to decisions in the Council of Ministers. [37102]

Peter Hain

A UK initiative to respond to Westminster concerns about late receipt of texts from Brussels resulted in the Protocol on National Parliaments, annexed to the treaty of Amsterdam, introducing a minimum scrutiny period of six weeks between receipt of official texts and their earliest adoption in the Council of Ministers.

The Government are committed to send to Parliament proposals for European legislation under all three pillars of EU activity as soon as they are received from the Council Secretariat.