European Union (Amendment) Bill

I am grateful to the noble Lord. I am sure that that will be replicated in other sub-committees of the Select Committee and in another place. I shall finish by going a bit further on some of the issues relating to the external action service. The technical discussions relate to the implementation of the provisions in the Lisbon treaty. Article 13a states: "““In fulfilling his mandate, the High Representative shall be assisted by a European External Action Service. This service shall work in cooperation with the diplomatic services of the Member States and shall comprise officials from relevant departments of the General Secretariat of the Council and of the Commission as well as staff seconded from national diplomatic services of the Member States. The organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service shall be established by a decision of the Council””." The detailed composition of that service will be agreed by the member states by unanimity following the entry into force of the treaty. At Lisbon, member states agreed a declaration that preparatory work should begin as soon as the treaty is signed for the reasons that I have given, but I have already indicated that no big decisions are to be taken. It is not a new bureaucracy. It will be drawn together from the Council secretariat, Commission services and member states’ representatives structured through secondments. As the Select Committee noted, the creation of an external action service is an important institutional innovation of the Lisbon treaty. The service is intended to provide the high representative and the EU with analysis and support as well as to improve the consistency of the EU’s representation in third countries and at international organisations. There will be no detailed discussion on the composition and function and no decision to launch until the treaty is in force and the decision is taken by unanimity. There will be discussions over the next two months. The presidency envisages further discussions, including about the scope of the general affairs council and the foreign affairs council, the list of council configurations and the role of the internal security committee. As I have indicated, we intend to keep Parliament updated on those issues. I hope that that was a colouring-in exercise about what the functions and roles will be. I found it extremely useful to understand noble Lords’ concerns. I do not see the need for the amendments that have been tabled. I hope that noble Lords will accept that the Government’s clear intention is to keep the House, and particularly the Select Committees, up to speed with what is happening. I hope that on that basis the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment.