Commons committee demands European Council decision-making transparency

A Commons committee has demanded more transparency on European Council decision making, in particular regarding negotiations conducted by officials.

In a report published today on the transparency of decision making in the Council, the committee considers actions to improve the transparency and accountability of decision making not only by European institutions but also by the UK government and the House of Commons, in order to make UK citizens aware of how the laws affecting them are made.

The great majority of European legislation is proposed by the Commission and agreed by the European Parliament and the European Council, in which all member state governments take part.

The process for agreement at Council is complex, and can include discussions at one of the 150 working groups at official level, and at the ambassadorial level in COREPER before being agreed by ministers at Council level.

While the committee recognised that progress has been made in increasing the information available about the final outcome of negotiations between ministers it said it is still very unclear how those decisions are reached — especially when they are agreed by consensus after several years of difficult discussions, mostly at official level.

Chairman of the committee, Sir William Cash, said: “UK citizens should be fully informed and given the facts as to how the 55 per cent (HC Library) of EU laws which govern them are made. Many UK laws and measures include obligations derived from EU law.

“The bulk of decisions on such laws are made by officials and then nodded through by ministers. There is no information on how those decisions are reached, including who has had to compromise and at what price. Over 50 per cent of decisions are agreed by consensus, which means policy differences can be invisible to the electorate.

“We urge the government to make proper information available to Parliament and the public, as to how these EU laws which impact their daily lives are made.”