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Consultants

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which consultant organisations are undertaking work for his Department; what the title of each project is; what the cost is of each project; and on what date each tender was awarded. [207218]

Mr. Rammell [holding answer 13 January 2005]: Due to the large number of consultants involved and because the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not hold centrally details on all of the consultant organisations that it employs to undertake work on its behalf, information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, I have placed in the Library of the House details of the consultant organisations currently working on FCO administration work and capital projects. I also refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 13 December 2004 (Official Report, column 895W).

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Department spent on first-class travel in each year since 1997. [206572]

Mr. Alexander: First class travel costs are not readily identifiable from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) accounting system and the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The FCO's general policy is as follows:

Rail travel in the UK(staff above the grade of C4 or C5 are entitled to first class travel;

Air travel (staff of the rank of permanent secretary are entitled to first class travel on flights over three hours. Certain other members of staff may also qualify where there are operational reasons.

Disabled Staff

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the staff employed by his Department have a declared disability. [205860]

 
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Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the Civil Service by Department. These include data on the number of staff who have a declared disability.

The latest information, at April 2004, is available in the Library of the House and also on the Civil Service website at the following addresses.

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_information/statistical_information/statistics/publications/xls/gender_apr04_4nov04.xls

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_ information/statistical_information/statistics/publications/xls/disability_ apr04_4nov04.xls

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) currently has 120 officers who have declared a disability.

We are working in a variety of ways to improve the diversity of the FCO's staff, including increasing the number of officers with declared disabilities. These include a positive action workshop for disabled staff, guidance for all staff on disability and reasonable adjustments, monitoring of our promotion procedures, a Board disability champion, a disability advisory group and staff network, and the requirement for all staff to have diversity training and objectives.

Euro Group

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the significance, in the protocol on the Euro Group in the EU Constitution, of the expression pending the Euro becoming the currency of all member states of the Union; and what representations the Government made on this matter during the negotiations. [207135]

Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.

This protocol does not apply to the UK unless it decides to join the euro. The separate status of the United Kingdom is dealt with in Protocol 13 of the Constitution. This carries forward the existing terms of the UK's opt-out from the euro and economic and monetary union, set out in the protocol annexed to the treaty establishing the European Community by the Maastricht treaty on European Union.

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the legal status of reference to the development of ever-closer co-ordination of economic policies within the euro area in the protocol on the Euro Group of the EU Constitution. [207281]

Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.

This reference forms part of the preamble to the protocol on the Euro Group: it therefore has no substantive legal effect, but contributes to the context for interpretation of the protocol. This protocol does not apply to the UK unless it decides to join the euro.

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the (a) role, (b) office and (c) duties, of the Presidency of the Euro Zone countries, under the Protocol on the Euro Group in the draft EU Constitution. [207101]

Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
 
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The internal management of the Euro Group, including defining the role, office and duties of its President, will be a matter for the members of the Euro Group to determine. Under the draft EU Constitution, decisions would continue to be taken by all member states within ECOFIN where an issue affects the economic interests of all member states.

European Constitution

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list UK Government amendments proposed to the European Constitution that were rejected. [207079]

Mr. MacShane: Formal amendments to the Convention's draft during the Intergovernmental Conference were proposed by the Italian and Irish Presidencies rather than individual member states. I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) on 7 July 2004, Official Report, column 767W, setting out the Government's position regarding these amendments.

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to publish the regulatory impact assessment for the bill to give effect to the Constitutional Treaty for the European Union subject to a referendum. [208550]

Mr. MacShane: It is the Government's intention to publish a regulatory impact assessment on the EU Bill when it is introduced to Parliament.

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how much the Government plans to spend on information regarding the Constitutional Treaty for the European Union prior to the proposed referendum; [208553]

(2) what his Department is planning to spend on providing public information regarding the Constitutional Treaty for the European Union in advance of and during the proposed referendum. [208565]

Mr. MacShane: For financial year 2004–05 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office budget for informing the public about the EU, including about the proposed EU Constitutional Treaty, is £613,000.

No budget has yet been allocated for the next financial year and a date has not yet been set for a referendum.

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he intends to distribute a copy of the Constitutional Treaty for the European Union to every household. [208566]

Mr. MacShane: There are no current plans for such a distribution.

European Union

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the United Kingdom's territorial cohesion with other EU member states, referred to in article 1–3(3) of the proposed EU Constitution. [208084]

 
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Mr. MacShane: The reference to territorial cohesion in Article 1–3(3) of the Constitutional Treaty should be understood in the context of Articles III-220 to III-224 of the treaty. These Articles envisage Union action for the strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion in particular aimed at reducing disparities between the levels of development of various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions. They are in substance the same as Title XVII of the treaty establishing the European Communities, which deals with economic and social cohesion and derive from the 1993 Maastricht Treaty on European Union.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will define the principle of sincere co-operation referred to in article 1–5(2) of the proposed EU Constitution. [208086]

Mr. MacShane: The principle of sincere co-operation is a general principle of EU law which has been reflected in the treaties since the creation of the Communities (see for example Article 5 EC Treaty). Its general meaning is that member states must in good faith facilitate and not undermine the tasks that they have agreed for the EU.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under what circumstances discrimination on the grounds of nationality would be permissible under the proposed EU Constitution. [208087]

Mr. MacShane: Article 1–4(2) of the Constitutional Treaty (which is in substance identical to Article 12(1) of the treaty establishing the European Community) provides that within the scope of the Constitution, and without prejudice to any of its specific provisions, any discrimination on ground of nationality shall be prohibited. It is not possible to set out in the abstract the circumstances in which discrimination on grounds of nationality might fall within the exceptions permitted by EU law (whether under existing law or under the Constitutional Treaty). That would depend entirely on the facts of the case.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what internal frontiers impede the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice as required by article 1–3 of the proposed EU Constitution. [208088]

Mr. MacShane: The creation of an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers (as set out in Article 1–3 of the proposed EU Constitution) is one of the objectives of the European Union under existing treaties. It reflects articles in the treaty establishing the European Community (articles 14, 61 and 62).

The majority of member states participate in the full provisions of the Schengen 'acquis' which include the removal of internal frontier controls. The UK participates in the police and judicial co-operation provisions of the Schengen acquis but not those relating to borders, visas or the lifting of internal controls, and it has retained its frontier controls with other EU member states. The UK has been a key player in the field of justice and home affairs and, not withstanding its maintenance of border controls, contributes fully to the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice.
 
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Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the categories of persons belonging to minorities are, referred to in Article 1–2 of the proposed EU Constitution. [208089]

Mr. MacShane: Article 1–2 of the Constitutional Treaty refers, among other things, to

"respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities".

Whether a person belonged to a particular minority for these purposes would depend on the circumstances.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's understanding is of the term, open to all European states, in Article 1–1 of the proposed EU Constitution; and which states are included in this definition. [208090]

Mr. MacShane: The section of Article 1–1 referred to should be read in its entirety. It reads

"The Union shall be open to all European States which respect its values and are committed to promoting them together".

This means that any European State may apply to join the Union and will be judged on the basis of whether it meets the stated requirements and against established criteria.

There is no exact definition of a European State. The four countries in the European Free Trade Area (ie Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) are clearly European. The Feira European Council in 2000 agreed that as well as the then candidates (Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey), Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and the Union of Serbia and Montenegro are considered potential candidates. No decisions have been taken on the eligibility of other countries.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether (a) the Welsh Assembly, (b) the Northern Ireland Executive and (c) the Scottish Parliament constitute regional parliaments for the purposes of Article 6 of the second protocol to the proposed EU constitution. [208258]

Mr. MacShane: Article 6 of Protocol 2 of the EU Constitutional Treaty states that

"It will be for each national Parliament or each chamber of a national Parliament to consult, where appropriate, regional parliaments with legislative powers".

In the Government's view, this suggests, in the United Kingdom, the National Assembly for Wales, the Scottish Parliament, and the Northern Ireland Assembly (not the Executive). However, Article 6 makes clear that the nature and extent of consultation on the principle of subsidiarity is for national Parliaments to decide. The House of Lords European Union Committee and the Select Committee on the Modernisation of the House of Commons are currently examining how the subsidiarity early warning mechanism should operate.

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