Letter from Lord Grenfell, Chairman of
the European Union Committee, to Mr Bob Ainsworth MP, Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State, Home Office
You last wrote to the Committee on this subject
on 30 January. The record of the 27/28 February Justice and Home
Affairs Council records that "the Council could conclude
the Agreement in May or June, after having involved the parliaments
in an appropriate manner". It has been our expectation, and
I believe the expectation of our sister Committee in the House
of Commons, that the draft Agreement would be deposited with Parliament
and that both Scrutiny Committees would be given sufficient time
to examine the text.
I understand that Member States may be asked
at the JHA Council on 8 May to authorise the Presidency to sign
the Agreement. Accordingly, I request you to stand by the assurance
given in your letter of 30 January that the Committee will have
an opportunity to scrutinise the text in full. We would be grateful
if you would deposit the document as soon as possible.
24 March 2003
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