Vol. 408 No. 1
2 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach if he will outline his views on whether qualified majority voting ought to be introduced, as part of the current intergovernmental conference, in respect of all decisions covered by the European treaties; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
As I said in my statement in the House on 19 December on the Rome European Council, we will consider this issue on a case by case basis, as was done at the time of the Single European Act.
Can the Taoiseach indicate the areas where qualified majority voting does not apply at the moment?
One of the principal areas of course, and one of the areas in which we would like to see that continue would be in areas like taxation. The position in regard to it is still uncertain in the IGCs. Our position was that we would favour the adoption of the majority opinion in as many areas as possible, subject to important national considerations.
Are there any areas apart from taxation where the Taoiseach believes that unanimity must be preserved as the basis for any decision?
Whatever about ourselves, some countries find difficulties in areas of social policy. Other areas where countries would like to retain unanimity would be energy, environment, immigration and areas of that kind.
In view of the fact that qualified majority voting does not apply in the area of taxation, and in view of the fact that agreement has not yet been reached on taxes on consumption and the abolition of border controls so far as 1992 is concerned, does the Taoiseach believe it would be possible to reach a unanimous agreement before 1 January 1993 in respect of the tax matters covered by the 1992 programme?
I will put it this way: we will simply have to. They are an essential part of the completion of the Single Market. As the Deputy knows, various proposals have been put forward and some of the proposals allow for a great deal of flexibility, so it is possible that in that manner we will get a resolution of the matter.
