Hansard

EU: Council of Ministers

Volume 684: debated on Monday 3 July 2006

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Lord Dykes

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they support the latest Austrian European Union presidency initiatives for open and public debates on the Council of Ministers’ activity in relation to new legislation.[HL6303]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Lord Triesman)

I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart of Swindon, on 26 June (Official Report, cols. WA 124-5); namely, that the European Council has agreed “an overall policy on transparency”, as itemised in Annexe 1 of its conclusions. The European Council also agreed to review this policy after six months to assess the “impact on the effectiveness of the Council's work”. The Government support this approach.