Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answers of 12 July 2005, Official Report, column 872W, on the EU constitution, if he will make a statement on the application of qualified majority under EU constitution article III-293 to the decision making process; which (a) themes and (b) regions have featured as areas of common foreign and security policy activity; who will arbitrate in areas of jurisdictional controversy between the EU Minister and a given member state; and what legal obligations follow a request by the EU Minister to be provided with a seat at international forums attended by the UK. [16320] Mr. Douglas Alexander: The hon. Member will be aware that, following the June European Council, the future of the constitutional treaty is uncertain.
Article III-293 of the EU constitutional treaty, which sets out the role of the European Council in defining the strategic interests and objectives of the Union in external policies, provides that "the European Council shall act unanimously" not by qualified majority. Only European decisions defining a specifically identified Union action or position on these unanimously agreed strategic interests and objectives can be adopted by qualified majority, under article III-300(2(a)).
A wide range of themes and regions have already featured as areas of common foreign and security policy activity. However only three of these—Russia, Ukraine and Euromed—have had strategic interests and objectives identified for them in a manner similar to the provisions in article II-293.
Under article I-28.2 of the constitutional treaty the European Union Foreign Minister (EUFM) would carry out his role in common foreign and security policy "as mandated by the Council"—ie the member states acting unanimously. Questions of "jurisdictional controversy" between the EUFM and a member state would therefore be unlikely, and would undoubtedly be addressed and settled amicably in discussions in the Council. There is no provision in the European Union constitutional treaty which places an obligation on member states or other international organisations to provide the EU Minister with a seat at international forums attended by the UK. My right hon. Friend the then Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. MacShane), set out in more detail the relationship proposed by the constitutional treaty between the EU Foreign Ministers and international organisations, in a letter to the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Mr. Davies). A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library of the House (House of Commons reference: DEP 07/0072). | 
