Lords demand facts on EU veto negotiations
A PARLIAMENTARY committee has slammed the government’s inability to explain what “safeguards” it was demanding from European nations when Prime Minister David Cameron vetoed an EU treaty in December.
The House of Lords EU Committee said that it has “repeatedly” asked ministers what exactly was at stake at the summit and has yet to get a satisfactory answer.
“It is unacceptable that the government have not released appropriate details of the safeguards which the Prime Minister sought at the December European Council,” the lords say in a report released today. “This makes it impossible to form a balanced judgement about the outcome.”
At a separate inquiry by the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, chancellor George Osborne suggested that the “safeguards” demanded were aimed at shoring up the UK’s negotiating position in thrashing out the details of technical directives, in particular on the ability of EU regulatory bodies to wield certain powers.
But the government has yet to produce a consistent explanation of what it was seeking at the summit.