Letter to the Secretary of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs from the Chairman of the Committee, dated
3 February 2004
FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORT ON THE INTER-GOVERNMENTAL
CONFERENCE
Further to your appearance before the Committee
on 11 December, I would be grateful to receive written responses
to the questions below.
1. Negotiations will start from the text
of the Constitutional Treaty established at the Naples conclave
of Foreign Ministers in November 2003, and not from the provisional
agreements reached at the Brussels European Council. Which of
the United Kingdom's "red lines" are particularly likely
to receive renewed attention?
2. What is the status
of the British opt-outs? Will they remain in the Treaty text?
3. Concerns have arisen that the European
Union may evolve into a "core" and "periphery".
What attitude does the United Kingdom take towards the idea of
a "core" Europe, and how would the Government seek to
ensure its place at the centre of Europe?
4. Disputes over
voting weights were one cause of the IGC's failure. What alternative
systems of voting weights are on the table, and where does the
United Kingdom stand on the matter?
5. The Brussels European Council agreed to
establish a European armaments agency. What is the United Kingdom's
attitude to this agency, and how will the government nurture its
progress over the next year?
6. Will the stalled
arrangements for ESDP in the Constitutional Treaty, such as structured
cooperation, impede the evolution of an effective security and
defence policy?
7. The Brussels European Council adopted
the Solana doctrine as the European security strategy. However,
important elements of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP),
such as the proposed European Foreign Minister, remain in limbo
since the failure of the Brussels talks. How will CFSP function
in this limbo and what will the United Kingdom do to pursue a
common foreign policy?
8. Will the United
Kingdom government retain its right of national veto over foreign
policy as was agreed at the Brussels Council or will the issue
again come under negotiation on the basis of the Naples text?
9. Will national parliaments retain a "red
card" block on the "passerelle" clause or will
this issue come under negotiation again?
10. What is the position
of the other 14 current member states on the question of free
access to health and benefits, including pensions, of nationals
from the accession states, and which UK benefits will nationals
from the accession states have a right to?
11. Would the government explain in detail,
and in reference to the draft Treaty, why it is confident that
rights granted by the Charter of Fundamental Rights cannot be
used as the basis of litigation either in the United Kingdom,
or before the European Court of Justice, or in a case brought
by the Commission against a member state? Would you send to the
FAC a copy of any legal advice he has received in this connection?
12. Will the Constitutional
Treaty have any impact on the United Kingdom's links with the
Dependent Territories?
13. Has the Spanish government accepted that
the principle of territorial sovereignty under the Constitutional
Treaty will not affect the status of Gibraltar?
14. The resolution
of the impasse on the island of Cyprus currently looks more possible.
What is the United Kingdom doing to encourage both communities
on the island and their mainland backers to pursue the UN plan?
I hope that you will be able to reply on all
these points not later than 23 February.
Rt Hon Donald Anderson MP
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee
3 February 2004
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