§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the articles in the draft European Constitution where decision-making by qualified majority vote replaces unanimity in the existing treaties. [176568]
§ Mr. MacShaneThe scope of qualified majority vote in the draft constitutional treaty is currently under negotiation. It was most recently discussed by Foreign 57W Ministers on 17/18 May in Brussels on the basis of the Irish presidency proposals set out in document CIG 75/04 (placed in the Library of the House on 24 May 2004 and available on the presidency website: www.eu2004.ie). As we made clear in our White Paper (Cm 5934) presented to the House on 9 September 2003, we will insist that unanimity remain for treaty change and other areas of vital national interest such as tax, social security, defence, key aspects of criminal procedural law and the system of own resources. Once a final text is agreed, the Government will publish a comprehensive comparison of the existing treaties and the new constitutional treaty.