Referendum on EU membership: Lords debates EU Committee report
3 November 2015
On Tuesday 3 November the House of Lords debates the EU Committee's report on the process leading up to the referendum on UK membership of the EU, which is to be held before the end of 2017.
- Parliament TV: House of Lords, Tuesday 3 November
- Report: The referendum on the UK membership of the EU: assessing the reform process (PDF)
- Report: The referendum on the UK membership of the EU: assessing the reform process (HTML)
- Government response to the report (PDF)
- European Commission response to the report (PDF)
- New inquiry: Visions of EU reform
Background
The European Union Referendum Bill, currently before the House of Lords, provides for a referendum on UK membership of the EU to be held before the end of 2017. The Committee's report on the process leading up to the referendum was published on 28 July 2015. The Committee's conclusions focused on a number of areas, including:
- the timing of the referendum
- the lack of clarity over the specific roles to be played by UK Ministers in negotiations
- the means whereby the Government, in order to ensure accountability and transparency, should keep Parliament informed of the progress of negotiations
- the need to ensure that any reform agreement is legally binding
The Committee has now received two responses to its report, from the Government and from the Director of the European Commission's Task Force for Strategic Issues related to the UK Referendum, Jonathan Faull.
What next?
The Committee is continuing to scrutinise the process of negotiation and reform leading up to the referendum in the context of its new inquiry into 'Visions of EU reform', and invites responses to its Call for Evidence by 30 November 2015.
Further information
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