John Gormley
Question:107 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's views on the recent proposals at the EU Tampere Summit to extend both majority voting and the co-decision powers of MEPs. [21214/99]
Written Answers. - Tampere Summit.
No proposals were submitted to the Tampere European Council in respect of the extension of either qualified majority voting or the co-decision powers of the European Parliament.
There was a brief informal discussion over dinner at Tampere of the preparation of the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference in the context of the anticipated publication of the Dehaene Report to the European Commission on the institutional implications of enlargement.
The European Council at Cologne in June con firmed its intention to convene an Intergovernmental Conference early in the year 2000. The question of the possible extension of qualified majority voting in the council was identified as one of the topics for consideration by the conference. It is possible that the extension of co-decision will also be amongst the items for consideration. Most member states favour a relatively limited agenda. However, the precise scope of the conference remains to be determined. The European Commission and the European Parliament have been pressing for a more extensive agenda.
The Dehaene Report, which was drawn up at the invitation of Mr Prodi in his capacity as President-Designate of the Commission, was presented to the commission on 18 October, shortly after the Tampere European Council. The report, which does not bind the member states in any way, argues that qualified majority voting should be the rule in an enlarged Union and that, whenever qualified majority voting applies in legislative matters in the first pillar, the European Parliament should have the power of co-decision.
A preparatory process, involving a technical examination of the specific issues already identified in the Cologne conclusions, is taking place at the level of Permanent Representatives in Brussels. The Finnish Presidency has been invited to draw up, on its own responsibility, for the European Council meeting in Helsinki in December, "a comprehensive report explaining and taking stock of options for resolving the issues to be settled".
The preparation of the Intergovernmental Conference is at an early stage. Ireland's negotiating approach will be developed as the agenda for the conference becomes clearer. In general, the Government would be prepared to give constructive consideration to any reasonable proposals for the extension of qualified majority voting in respect of community business. However, like other member states, there are certain areas in which we attach particular importance to the retention of the unanimity requirement. In our case, taxation would be one such area. We would also be prepared to consider the further appropriate extension of the co-decision procedure.