§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanMy right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr Jack Straw) has laid before the House Command Paper 6289, containing the text agreed by the European Council on 17–18 June 2004 for a Constitutional Treaty for the European Union (CIG 86/04). Copies have been placed in the Library of the House and the Printed Paper Office.
This is an interim text of the treaty, which still has to go through a process of technical amendment by jurist-linguists this summer. The Dutch presidency then plans for the final text to be signed by Heads of State and Government on 29 October.
12WSCommand Paper 6289 includes the declarations of the Council that will accompany the treaty, and the protocols that are new or directly relevant to the UK (the remainder can be seen in the online version of the treaty, at www.fco.gov.uk). We will present the final text in full to Parliament this autumn, also as a Command Paper, prior to introducing legislation to give it effect in UK law—subject to its approval in a referendum.