I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 55 together.
At last month's informal meeting of the European Council in Biarritz, the Heads of State and Government reviewed developments in the intergovernmental conference, and restated their determination to reach agreement at the Nice European Council, which will take place from 7 to 9 December. Intensive discussions have taken place at ministerial and official level in recent weeks, and over the coming weekend I will participate in the final Ministerial Conclave and General Affairs Council discussion prior to the Nice European Council.
As Deputies will be aware, the major areas under discussion are the composition of the Commission, the weighting of votes in the Council, the extension of qualified majority voting, and revised arrangements in the area of closer co-operation. While considerable progress has been made in relation to QMV and closer co-operation, there are, as might be expected, significant differences with regard to the Commission and reweighting which can only be resolved at Nice itself.
With regard to the Commission, we, with other small and medium sized states, continue to maintain our position of one commissioner per member state while the larger states generally support imposing a ceiling on the size of the Commission. We have argued that the democratic legitimacy of the Union is greatly strengthened by one commissioner per member state and that it is particularly important that the newly admitted member states should, from the outset, have the opportunity, through participation in the Commission, to gain experience of all aspects of the Union's work. We continue to support proposals for strengthening the role of the President of the Commission, to ensure the post operates as effectively as possible.
The discussions on the reweighting of votes in the Council are also proving difficult. While indicating a preference for the dual majority model, we have stated our willingness to consider a range of options, provided they do not unduly distort existing balances. In this regard, we are prepared to give effect to the Protocol to the Amsterdam Treaty which provides that additional weighting may be given to those member states which forego the right to nominate a second commissioner.
Concerning QMV, we have indicated that we are prepared to move to majority voting on a substantial number of articles while retaining unanimity for sensitive areas such as taxation. Other issues which remain under discussion, but where we have taken a generally positive position, subject to agreement on final texts, include the common commercial policy, justice and home affairs, human rights monitoring and arrangements in respect of migrant workers.
Considerable progress has been made in revising the procedures in place with regard to closer co-operation. Discussions are continuing with respect to the second pillar, where we are concerned to ensure that we proceed in a manner which maintains the coherence of the Union's policies.
We remain committed to securing a balanced outcome at Nice which will allow an enlarged Union to function effectively while maintaining essential institutional balances, including those between large and small member states. We believe that an agreement is attainable which will serve both our interests and those of an enlarged Union.