Examination of Witnesses (Questions 260-262)
RT HON
JACK STRAW
MP AND MR
DAVID FROST
8 FEBRUARY 2005
Q260 Mr Connarty: It did come up in discussion
with the European parliamentary representatives.
Mr Straw: I am advised by one
of my officials that there is no transcript.
Q261 Mr Steen: Why not?
Mr Straw: It goes back to—
Q262 Chairman: We are talking about post
the Treaty.
Mr Straw: In the European Council,
if we are talking about the Council itself which is the quarterly
summits that take place, what we are dealing with are the difficult
issues which require resolution, which cannot be resolved by the
functional Councils of Ministers. They do require a lot of negotiation.
It would simply, in my judgment, not be possible to reach agreement
if you were doing that under the full glare of publicity. Why?
Because people across the room would be saying, "Can we agree
that? No, we cannot. Can we agree that? Maybe we can. Can we have
an adjournment?" In the real world, we would not be able
to deliver for Britain if that was under the glare of publicity.
I agree generally there ought to be greater openness about what
we can do, for sure. What you do get immediately out of the Council
is very extensive conclusions.
Chairman: Thank you very much. It has
been an interesting 45 minutes and, as usual, you have whetted
our appetite. Thank you for coming.
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