S.C.A.
Amendment Paper as at
Thursday 9th January 2003
STANDING COMMITTEE A
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (REPRESENTATION) BILL
NOTE
The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the Committee [9th January].
Mr William Cash
14
Clause 2, page 2, line 16, after 'Commission', insert 'after consultation with the Boundary Committee of the said Commission and/or the Boundary Commissions as the case may be.'.
Mr William Cash
15
Clause 2, page 2, line 23, leave out 'or anticipated change'.
Mr William Cash
16
Clause 2, page 2, line 23, leave out 'under Community law' and insert 'in pursuance only of an express existing Treaty obligation.'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
2
Clause 2, page 2, line 24, at end insert 'and Gibraltar'.
Mr William Cash
17
Clause 2, page 2, line 26, after 'notice', insert 'which shall be a reasonable period of not less than three months'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
3
Clause 2, page 2, line 29, leave out from 'region' to 'MEPs' and insert '(other than Northern Ireland) is allocated at least four'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
4
Clause 2, page 2, line 29, leave out 'and' and insert—
| '(aa) | Northern Ireland is allocated at least three MEPs; and'. |
Mr William Cash
18
Clause 2, page 2, line 34, leave out 'Lord Chancellor' and insert 'Secretary of State'.
Mr William Cash
19
Clause 2, page 2, line 34, at end insert—
| '(aa) | shall be debated by each House on a substantive motion; and'. |
Mr William Cash
20
Clause 4, page 3, line 20, after '(1)', insert 'Where following the debate or debates held under section 1(1) of the 2002 Act the question as to whether the total number of MEPs to be elected for the United Kingdom may be altered is determined in the affirmative,'.
Mr William Cash
21
Clause 4, page 3, line 20, leave out 'Lord Chancellor', and insert 'Secretary of State'.
Mr William Cash
22
Clause 4, page 3, line 20, leave out 'under Community law' and insert 'in pursuance only of an express existing Treaty obligation'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
39
Clause 4, page 3, line 21, after 'law', insert 'subsequent to the ratification of a treaty of accession'.
Mr William Cash
23
Clause 4, page 3, line 28, leave out '(4) to (6)'.
Mr William Cash
24
Clause 4, page 3, line 32, leave out '(including provision modifying any Act)'.
Mr William Cash
25
Clause 4, page 3, line 34, leave out 'Lord Chancellor' and insert 'Secretary of State'.
Mr William Cash
26
Clause 5, page 3, line 39, after 'Act', insert 'or any other Act'.
Mr William Cash
27
Clause 5, page 4, line 1, leave out subsections (4) to (7) and insert—
'(4) If a motion for the approval of a draft order is rejected by either House or withdrawn by leave of the House the Secretary of State shall not recommence the procedures provided under sections 2 to 5 of this Act.'.
Mr William Cash
38
Schedule, page 13, line 7, after 'must', insert 'after consultation with the Boundary Committee of the said Commission and/or the Boundary Commissions as the case may be'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
10
Schedule, page 13, line 14, after 'least', insert 'four MEPs, except that Northern Ireland is entitled to be allocated at least'.
Mr William Cash
31
Schedule, page 13, line 21, at end insert 'and shall be debated by each House on a substantive motion.'.
Mr William Cash
32
Schedule, page 14, line 12, after 'House', insert 'on a substantive motion'.
Mr William Cash
33
Schedule, page 14, line 16, leave out '(including provision modifying any provision made by or under any Act)'.
Mr William Cash
34
Schedule, page 14, line 18, after 'Commission', insert 'after consultation with the Boundary Committee of the said Commission and/or the Boundary Commissions as the case may be'.
Mr William Cash
35
Schedule, page 14, line 21, leave out paragraph 4 and insert—
'4. If a motion for the approval of a draft order under paragraph 3 is rejected by either House or withdrawn by leave of the House the Secretary of State shall not recommence the procedure under the Act.'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
5
Clause 8, page 5, line 5, leave out 'and' and insert 'or'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
6
Clause 9, page 5, line 11, leave out 'and' and insert 'or'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
7
Clause 9, page 5, line 16, leave out from 'Governor' to end of line 17 and insert 'Chief Minister and the House of Assembly of Gibraltar, and representatives of political parties established in Gibraltar which it expects to seek registration under section 11(3)'.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
8
Clause 21, page 10, line 41, leave out from 'Kingdom' to end of line 43.
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
9
Clause 23, page 11, line 31, after 'Act', insert 'shall be exercised by a Minister in the Lord Chancellor's Department who is a Member of the House of Commons, and who is designated for that purpose, and'.
Mr William Cash
28
Page 11, line 30, leave out Clause 23.
Mr William Cash
29
Clause 24, page 11, line 35, at end insert '"consult" and "consultation" mean paying due regard to the views expressed and includes publishing the reasons of the Secretary of State, following such consultation, for the making of an order under this Act and the 2002 Act no sooner than three months before making the order.'.
Mr William Cash
30
Clause 25, page 12, line 3, after '(3)', insert 'Subject to the provisions of this Act and the 2002 Act,'.
Mr William Cash
36
Clause 25, page 12, line 6, leave out 'Lord Chancellor' and insert 'Secretary of State'.
Mr William Cash
37
Clause 25, page 12, line 8, leave out 'Lord Chancellor' and insert 'Secretary of State'.
NEW CLAUSES
Recommendations by Electoral Commission relating to methods of election of United Kingdom MEPs
Mr David Heath
Bob Russell
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) Before making any recommendation as to the distribution of MEPs between the electoral regions under section 2, the Electoral Commission shall—
| (a) | review the methods of election of MEPs currently used; |
| (b) | make an assessment of the efficacy of the methods of election in ensuring (i) proportionality; (ii) accountability; and (iii) effectiveness of representation; |
| (c) | make such recommendations to the Lord Chancellor as it shall determine. |
(2) A recommendation under this section must be published by the Electoral Commission and laid before Parliament by the Lord Chancellor.'.
Expiry of Act
Mr William Cash
NC2
To move the following Clause:—
'.— Part I of this Act shall cease to have effect if the electorate of any of the states whose government or governments have agreed to accede to the European Union (where such state or states are required by law to hold a referendum before such accession) votes in such a referendum to decline accession to the European Union.'.
EXTRACT FROM THE ORDER OF THE HOUSE [10TH DECEMBER]
Standing Committee
(2) Proceedings in the Standing Committtee shall (so far as not peviously concluded) be brought to a conclusion on Thursday 16th January 2003.
(3) The Standing Committee shall have leave to sit twice on the first day on which it meets.
ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE [9TH JANUARY]
That—
(1) during proceedings on the European Parliament (Representation) Bill the Standing Committee shall, after its first sitting on Tuesday 7th January at 4.30 p.m., sit on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9.25 a.m. and 2.30 p.m.;
(2) the proceedings to be taken at the sittings shall be as shown in the second column of the Table below and shall be taken in the order so shown;
(3) the proceedings which under paragraph 2 are to be taken at any sitting shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at the time specified in the third column of the Table;
(4) paragraph 2 does not prevent proceedings being taken (in the order shown in the second column of the table) at any earlier sitting than that provided for under paragraph 2 if previous proceedings have already been concluded.
TABLE
