The European Union Committee of the House of Lords considers EU documents and other matters relating to the EU in advance of decisions being taken on them in Brussels. It does this in order to influence the Government's position in negotiations, and to hold them to account for their actions at EU level.

The Government are required to deposit EU documents in Parliament, and to produce within two weeks an Explanatory Memorandum setting out the implications for the UK. The Committee examines these documents, and 'holds under scrutiny' any about which it has concerns, entering into correspondence with the relevant Minister until satisfied. Letters must be answered within two weeks. Under the 'scrutiny reserve resolution', the Government may not agree in the EU Council of Ministers to any proposal still held under scrutiny; reasons must be given for any breach.

The Committee also conducts inquiries and makes reports. The Government are required to respond in writing to a report's recommendations within two months of publication. If the report is for debate, then there is a debate in the House of Lords, which a Minister attends and responds to.

The Committee has seven Sub-Committees which are at present:

Economic and Financial Affairs, and International Trade (Sub-Committee A)

Internal Market (Sub-Committee B)

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Policy (Sub-Committee C)

Environment and Agriculture (Sub-Committee D)

Law and Institutions (Sub-Committee E)

Home Affairs (Sub-Committee F)

Social Policy and Consumer Affairs (Sub-Committee G)

Our Membership

The Members of the European Union Committee are:

Lord Bowness            Lord Paul

Baroness Cohen of Pimlico         Lord Plumb

Lord Dear            Lord Powell of Bayswater

Lord Dykes             Lord Richard

Lord Freeman             Lord Roper (Chairman)

Lord Hannay of Chiswick         Lord Sewel

Baroness Howarth of Breckland         Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

Lord Jopling             Lord Teverson

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard         Lord Trimble

In addition, the following were Members  during Session 2008-08:

Lord Blackwell            Lord Mance

Lord Grenfell            Lord Tomlinson

Lord Harrison            Lord Wright of Richmond    

Information about the Committee

The reports and evidence of the Committee are published by and available from The Stationery Office. For information freely available on the web, our homepage is

http://www.parliament.uk/hleu

There you will find many of our publications, along with press notices, details of membership and forthcoming meetings, and other information about the ongoing work of the Committee and its Sub-Committees, each of which has its own homepage.

General Information

General information about the House of Lords and its Committees, including guidance to witnesses, details of current inquiries and forthcoming meetings is on the internet at

http://www.parliament.uk/about_lords/about_lords.cfm

Contacts for the European Union Committee

Contact details for individual Sub-Committees are given on the website.

General correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the European Union Committee, Committee Office, House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW

The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5791. The Committee's email address is euclords@parliament.uk