---

7 Jun 2005 : Column 548W—continued

Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will answer the letter to him dated 18 January 2005 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Iqbal. [2125]

Dr. Howells: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 24 May 2005, Official Report, column 66W. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 6 April 2005.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will answer the letter to him dated 14 January 2005 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Hina Khalid. [2126]

Dr. Howells: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Mullin) gave him on 6 April 2005, Official Report, column 1486W, and the reply I also gave him on 24 May 2005, Official Report, column 66W. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 1 April 2005.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will answer the letter to him dated 7 March from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mehwish Saeed. [2127]

Dr. Howells: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 24 May 2005, Official Report, column 65W. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied to my right hon. Friend's letter with regard to Mehwish Saeed on 15 March.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will answer the letter to him dated 15 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. S. Siddique. [2130]

Dr. Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied to my right hon. Friend's letter with regard to Mrs. Siddique on 6 June.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will answer the letter to him dated 7 February from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. M. R. Sufi. [2131]

Dr. Howells: My right hon. Friend replied to my right hon. Friend's letter with regard to Mr. M.R. Sufi on 7 June.

EU Legislation

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the UK legislation that has partly or wholly implemented EU legislation in each year since 1997. [1656]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: There is no central register of UK legislation wholly or partly implementing EU legislation.

EU legislation may be directly applicable, implemented by administrative means, or introduced when domestic legislation is amended for other purposes. Where EU legislation does require transposition into national law, it may be implemented either by primary legislation, or by secondary legislation under the European Communities Act 1972 (the ECA). The
 
7 Jun 2005 : Column 549W
 
majority of EU legislation is enacted under section 2(2) of the ECA. House of Commons Standard Note SN/IA/2888 gives further information, including on the number of Statutory Instruments enacted under the ECA in each parliamentary session.

Transposition notes, available in the Library of the House, show how all the main elements of individual EU directives have been or will be transposed into UK law. We aim to ensure that UK implementation of EU legislation minimises administrative burdens.

EU Presidency

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the job descriptions are of the members of staff within the Presidency Unit; and what the projected staff budget for financial year 2005–06 is. [1808]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: Job descriptions for members of staff in the EU Presidency Unit are:

Team Leader—To deliver the programme and organisation of the 2005 UK

Presidency of the EU;

Deputy Team Leader—Working with the Presidency Team Leader, help oversee the preparations for the 2005 UK Presidency of the EU. Input on Presidency policy priority issues. Day-to-day management of the Presidency Team. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) lead on the organisation of the European Councils and supervision of arrangements for the Gymnich;

Head of External Communications—To co-ordinate the Presidency public diplomacy strategy, both presentation of the UK Presidency in other EU member states, and presentation of the UK Presidency within the UK. To oversee issues related to the Presidency Website;

Desk Officer—To be the Presidency Team focal point on third country issues/summits/meetings. To schedule all third country meetings during the Presidency;

Resource Management Officer—To advise the Presidency Team on policy and procedures for UK resource related issues. Primary point of contact for the Team on FCO's policy on resource issues. Responsible for correct disbursement of the Presidency budget and post-Presidency budgetary report;

Desk Officer—To set up, clear, maintain and publish the Presidency calendar of events. To lead on the organisation of the Commission visit within the Presidency Unit. Logo Branded items;

Desk Officer—To provide the Team lead on the Gymnich meeting during the UK Presidency (including on agenda issues) and support the Deputy Head of Team on European Councils. Support also on third country issues and other Presidency events. Logo branded Stationery;

Website Manager—Responsible for the delivery and operational management of the UK EU Presidency Website;

Website Editor x 2—Responsible for servicing the content for the Website and updating it throughout the Presidency;

Support staff x 1—To provide administrative support to Desk Officers, Head, Deputy Head and Unit RMO;

Support Staff x 1—To provide administrative support to the EU Presidency Team.

A budget of £741,415 has been allocated to cover the costs of additional staff requirements in Brussels for 2005–06. Staffing of the Presidency unit is being met through re-prioritisation of existing FCO resources and is costed at £400,303 for 2005–06.
 
7 Jun 2005 : Column 550W
 

European Council

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what decisions the European Council has taken by (a) vote, (b) majority vote and (c) qualified majority vote in each of the last 10 years. [1652]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The European Council, composed of Heads of State or Government, generally acts by consensus rather than by voting. The Council of Ministers, by contrast, takes decisions by simple majority, qualified majority or unanimity voting, in accordance with its legal framework. Since January 2001, details of voting in the Council of Ministers have been published by the Council Secretariat in its monthly summaries of Council acts. These can be accessed on the Council's internet site at http://ue.eu.int/cms3_applications/showPage.ASP?id=551&lang=en& mode=g

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of documents in the register of the European Council is fully accessible to the public. [1650]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The European Council as such has no such register of documents. Regulation No. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 requires the Community institutions to make available an electronic document register. One of these is held by the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers. The Council Secretariat has informed us that as at 21 February 2005, 61.6 per cent. of all registered documents were fully accessible to the public.

Israel

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who the UK representatives at the meeting of the EU-Israel Association Committee on 14 April were; and what the official position of each is. [1793]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials, led by the Deputy Head of Mission of the British embassy in Tel Aviv, represented the UK.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals were agreed at the meeting on 14 April for sub-committees under the EU-Israel Association Agreement; and what arrangements have been made for monitoring human rights issues. [1794]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: No final agreements have been reached yet. We will submit any formal proposals to Parliament for scrutiny.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the organisations and individuals who presented evidence to the EU-Israel Association Committee on 14 April on human rights within Israel and the Occupied Territories. [1795]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The EU Presidency and the European Commission, including the Middle East Director from the Foreign Relations Directorate General, jointly led the EU Delegation. Representatives
 
7 Jun 2005 : Column 551W
 
from the Council Secretariat and member states also attended. The Director General for Europe from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs led the Israeli Delegation.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make available to Parliament the formal proposals on sub-committees of the EU-Israel Association Committee before they are submitted to the Council of Ministers for adoption. [1796]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: The proposals will be scrutinised by the House of Commons and House of Lords European Union Committee before they are submitted to the Council of Ministers for adoption.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects the formal proposals on sub-committees of the EU-Israel Association Committee to be decided by the Council. [1996]

Mr. Douglas Alexander: We expect the formal proposals on sub-committees to be decided before the end of June.

---