Clause 5 - Section 4: supplementary
European Parliament (Representation) Bill
4:00 pm
Ms Yvette Cooper (Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department; Pontefract and Castleford, Labour)
The reason for the wording is that, under clause 5(3), any order that affects the number and distribution of MEPsthe key issues in the Billmust be taken under the affirmative resolution procedure.
The clause allows for consequential and supplementary amendments that are made by order to be taken under the negative resolution procedure, as long as they are not to section 1 of the 2002 Act. That is the standard procedure, and it is not unusual for simple consequential provisions to be dealt with in that way.
It is important to clarify, however, that even consequential amendments to section 1 of the 2002 Act—in effect, clause 1 of the Bill, which relates to the important issue of the number and distribution of MEPs—should be taken under the affirmative resolution procedure.