Asked by: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2015 to Question 4126, how many times the procedure provided for in the Council Decision of 29 March 1994 have been invoked; what the concerns of the member states that invoked the procedure were in each such case; and how those concerns were met in the final decision taken in each such case.
Answered by David Lidington
The Council Decision of 29 March 1994, also known as the Ioannina Compromise, was superseded by the Treaty of Nice, and subsequently by the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. From 2014, a new version of the Ioannina Compromise took effect. This allows a group of Member States short of a blocking minority to request a deferral of decisions they do not agree with, within a reasonable timeframe. The Government does not maintain a central record of when the provision has been invoked or for what reason.
Asked by: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which external organisations officials in his Department have met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many meetings such officials have had with each such organisation.
Answered by David Lidington
The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Officials regularly meet with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe.
Asked by: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department are engaged in research into the effects of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by David Lidington
The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government's priorities in Europe.Asked by: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which external organisations he has met to discuss the consequences of the UK leaving the EU in each of the last three years; and how many times he has met each such organisation.
Answered by David Lidington
The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation: it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU and campaigning to keep the UK in the EU on that basis. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) regularly meets with a range of external organisations to discuss the Government's objectives in Europe. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published quarterly and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications.