Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Parliamentary Relations and Devolution Team, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
Thank you for your letter of 26 July in which
you asked a number of questions regarding the future of the Common
Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), specifically on the status
of the Declarations on CFSP and the use of Qualified Majority
Voting (QMV).
DECLARATIONS ON
CFSP
The Declarations contained in the Intergovernmental
Conference (IGC) mandate will be included in the Declarations
to be made by the Member States at the IGC and published in the
Final Act alongside the European Reform Treaty. Such Declarations
represent a solemn political commitment on the part of the Contracting
Parties and will be taken into account in the interpretation and
application of the Treaty itself.
The Treaty's provisions on the CFSP will not
be subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice
(ECJ), except in certain very limited circumstances. The interpretation
and application of these provisions, in the light of the Declaration,
will therefore be determined in the course of decision-making
on the CFSP.
QUALIFIED MAJORITY
VOTING
You also ask about decisions by QMV and the
role of the High Representative in implementing the CFSP. Under
the current Treaties, QM votes can be taken on CFSP decisions
to implement policies and actions already agreed by unanimity
and to appoint EU Special Representatives.
This principle of allowing QMV only for implementing
measures will be maintained under the EU Reform Treaty, where
subject to final agreement in the IGC, we expect the use of QMV
to be restricted to:
— actions to implement decisions of
the European Council (agreed by unanimity) relating to the Union's
strategic interests and objectives, or a previous decision (agreed
by unanimity) of the Council of Ministers;
— decisions on proposals which the
High Representative has presented at the specific and unanimous
request of the European Council; and
— decisions to appoint a Special Representative.
As now, the use of QMV will not extend to decisions
with military or defence implications. Moreover, where a Member
State opposes the adoption of a European decision to be adopted
by QMV for vital and stated reasons of national policy, it will
continue to be the case that a vote shall not be taken and the
issue will instead be referred to the European Council for decision
by unanimity.
Richard Cooke
Head, Parliamentary Relations Team
5 September 2007
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