APPENDIX 1
Letter to the Committee from the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office on Qualified Majority Voting
Thank you for your letter of 18 April, enclosing
details of Mr Wilshire's question to Mr Vaz about the Government's
position on QMV.
Mr Wilshire asks us which of the articles in
his list fall within the six areas for which the Government explicitly
ruled out QMV in its IGC White Paper. There are two obvious examples—Article
144 and the first indent of Article 137(3), both of which specifically
cover aspects of social security. But that does not mean the Government
will be willing to accept QMV in all other cases. As Mr Wilshire
will be aware, the six areas from the White Paper were an illustrative
list of issues for which key national interest makes QMV inappropriate.
In all other cases, the Government will approach QMV extension
on a case-by-case basis. Where QMV is in Britain's interests,
we will accept it. Where not, we will not. I appreciate that Mr
Wilshire is not asking us to give away our negotiating position
by offering a definitive yes or no to all such articles at this
stage.
I should also reiterate that the Commission's
list does not represent an agenda for the IGC. Treaty change is
for Member States and the Commission's Opinion is merely a contribution
to the debate. As the latest Presidency papers make clear, the
discussion of QMV is already much more focused than the Commission's
list might suggest.
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