House of Lords written statement – made at on 15 October 2013.
Viscount Younger of Leckie
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
My Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills has made the following statement.
The EU Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) will take place in Luxembourg on
The substantive items on
One Legislative item:
State of Play on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for managing financial responsibility linked to investor-state dispute settlement tribunals established by international agreements to which the European Union is party.
Non-legislative items:
State of play on the Preparations for the Eastern Partnership Summit (Vilnius, 28-
- EU-Ukraine, DCFTA part of the Association Agreement- EU-Republic of Moldova, DCFTA part of the Association Agreement- EU-Georgia, DCFTA part of the Association Agreement- EU-Republic of Armenia, DCFTA part of the Association Agreement
Items on which a vote may be requested are: adoption of the EU-China Negotiations on investment, and adoption of the EU-ASEAN negotiations on investment. A vote might be requested on the declassification of the TTIP mandate.
Other items not subject to a vote are: the state of play on preparations for the IX World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (Bali, 3-
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
