91997E2298

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2298/97 by Peter Sichrovsky (NI) to the Council (18 July 1997)

Subject: Failure of government members to attend Council meetings

Do government members commonly fail to attend meetings of the Council?

How often have members of the Austrian Government failed to attend meetings of the Council since 1995?

Is it the Council's view that decisions it takes in the absence of members of a Member State's government are of secondary political importance for that Member State?

In the absence of members of its government, how has Austria made it known how it wishes to vote?

Answer (1 December 1997)

Member States of course endeavour to ensure that they are represented at Council meetings at ministerial level; experience shows, however, that this is not always possible and that it is therefore not uncommon for one or more Member States to be represented by persons other than Ministers or State Secretaries (usually then by Permanent Representatives or their deputies). In that case, the representatives may not take part in the voting procedure.

However, Article 150 of the EC Treaty and Article 7 paragraph 3 of the Council's Rules of Procedure ((Council Decision No 93/662/EC of 6 December 1993 adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure (OJ L 304, 10 December 1993, p. 1) amended by Council Decision No 95/24/CE, Euratom, CECA of 6 February 1995 (OJ L 31, 10 February 1995, p. 14). )) allow any Council member to delegate his/her right to vote to another Council member represented at ministerial level. Combined with the quorum rule provided for in Article 7 paragraph 4 of the Council's Rules of Procedure, under which the presence of eight members of the Council at ministerial level is required to enable the Council to vote, the delegation of vote may result in a situation where, at a given Council meeting, up to seven members may delegate their vote to the remaining eight Council members.

Since it joined the European Union in January 1995, Austria has been represented at all Council meetings. In each case in which the relevant member of government was unable to attend, the Austrian delegation was headed by the Austrian Permanent Representative to the European Union (or his deputy), as is common practice at the Europen Union.

It is not for the Council to speculate on whether the political importance a Member State attaches to decisions which might be taken at a given Council meeting is reflected by the person by whom that Member State is represented at the meeting.

The position and the vote of Austria and the issues under discussion at Council meetings are expressed at that meeting in conformity with Articles 146 and 150 of the EC Treaty and Article 7 paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Council's Rules of Procedure as explained above. The Honourable Member of the European Parliament will moreover be aware that when a vote takes place in the Council the record of that vote is made public - through the Council's Press Release - in accordance with the provisions of the Council's Rules of Procedure.