To ask the Lord President of the Council what proposals he has for providing additional opportunities for parliamentary scrutiny of policies under (a) the second and (b) the third pillar of Maastricht.

The procedures for parliamentary scrutiny of documents emerging under the inter-governmental pillars work well and are kept under review. I await with interest the publication of a report from the Select Committee on European Legislation on the arrangements for the scrutiny of EU documents, which is planned for the autumn. The Government will consider the report carefully together with any proposals the Committee may have for improving the current arrangements.