§ Adam PriceTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what amendments the Government has tabled since 1998 to the Draft European Charter on Regional Self-Government. [172286]
§ Mr. RaynsfordIn 1997 the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe recommended that member states of the Council of Europe adopt a European Charter on Regional Self Government and proposed a draft text for states to consider. Within the Council of Europe, member states' governments are continuing to consider the appropriateness of a charter or other legal instrument on regional self government. Within these discussions the United Kingdom, along with a number of other states, continues to oppose the adoption of a Charter, believing that, given the diversity of States' regional arrangements, a binding charter would be inappropriate.