Written question asked by Angus Robertson (Scottish National Party) on Thursday, 15 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 December 2005. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 January 2006 on behalf of the Treasury.

EU Committees

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many meetings of the EU (a) EEC-European Free Trade Association Joint Committee (and working parties), (b) Customs Cooperation Sub-committee— EEC-Canada, (c) Customs Cooperation Sub-committee—EEC-Korea and (d) Customs Cooperation Sub-committee—EEC-United States of America have taken place during the UK presidency of the EU; who presided over each meeting; which other UK representatives were present; what provisions were made for representation of the devolved governments; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: There have been three meetings of the EEC-European Free Trade Association Joint Committee (and working parties) during the UK presidency. The Commission chaired all these meetings and the UK representatives were from HMRC. Customs matters are a reserved matter for HMG and are not within the competence of the devolved governments.There have been no meetings of the Customs Cooperation Committee EC-Canada during the UK presidency.There have been no meetings of the Customs Cooperation Committee EC-Korea during the UK presidency.There have been no meetings of the Customs Cooperation Committee EC-US during the UK presidency.

Secondary information