Letter from Mr Denis MacShane, Minister
for Europe
I undertook at my appearance before your Committee
on 17 December to write to clarify whether the Presidency's declaration
at the last European Council, on points where the IGC had reached
a near-consensus, was referring to a specific text and whether
that text covered all of Britain's "red lines".
Proposals published by the Italian Presidency
on 9 December (and placed in the Library of the House) covered
a wide range of separate issues of concern to one or more EU Member
States. In respect of most, though not all, of these issues the
outcome was satisfactory for the United Kingdom, including on
the "passerelle" clause (Article I.24(4)) and modalities
for future revisions of Title III of Part III of the Treaty (a
new proposed Article IV-7b).
In his summing up at the IGC on Saturday 13
December, Mr Berlusconi did not list each of the individual points
on which there was near consensus. Nor is there any definitive
text that does so. He did say however that they included unanimity
for taxation, criminal justice, own resources decisions and social
security.
He did not suggest that there was near-consensus
on every issue, and we had already made clear that there were
some other outstanding issues on which we would require satisfaction
before we could agree a draft Treaty. The Prime Minister also
made clear at the IGC, as he did in his Statement of 15 December
in the House, that nothing would be agreed until everything was
agreed.
12 January 2004
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