Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the meeting on 9 February between the original member states of the EU, and the re-commitment by those member states to an ever closer union” and a “two-speed Europe”.”

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

At the February European Council the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the UK a special status in a reformed EU. The agreement sets out that the Treaties will be changed to “make it clear that the references to ever closer union do not apply to the United Kingdom” and acknowledges “different paths of integration being available for different Member States and do not compel all Member States to aim for a common destination.”