To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list decision-making powers which have been restored to the United Kingdom from EU institutions " since the Maastricht Treaty came into effect. [80234]

The issue of repatriation of powers from the EU to Member States was not on the agenda for either the Maastricht or Amsterdam IGCs.The Maastricht Treaty, however, introduced the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality into EC law, both of which were given further effect by the Protocol agreed at Amsterdam. The principle of subsidiarity aims to ensure that decisions are taken at the most appropriate level in areas of shared competence between the EC and Member States. Its application is one way of ensuring that decisions are taken as close to the citizen as possible.