Could the Prime Minister stop fiddling with the selection committees by trying to select judges based on his political ideology and instead ask the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to review the judicial appointment process?

Returning to the issue of EI premium rate setting, the government is reviewing the rate setting process and will be considering approaches for a new mechanism in responding to the standing committee.

9. Is deeply worried that female representation at the next European Parliament elections risks falling dramatically because of very low female political representation in the accession countries; therefore, calls on the Commission and the accession countries to support financially women's NGO's in the accession countries so that they can establish information programmes specifically designated to prepare and train female candidates for the European Parliament elections in June 2004, taking account of the conclusions of the Ministerial Conference held in Syracuse on the participation of women in decision and policy-making processes, which provide for a minimum 30% representation of women on their lists of candidates ...[+++]standing in the European elections. Calls on the political parties in all Member States to introduce positive action systems to promote a balanced representation of women and men and to review their party structures to avoid any form of gender discrimination, direct or indirect. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support financially womens's NGO's arranging awareness raising campaigns to promote a better political participation of women at the next European elections.

However, the process is slow and resource-intensive because of the complex scientific and administrative work involved (monograph written by a Rapporteur Member State, scientific peer review, discussions between experts at the evaluation meetings, consultation of the Scientific Committee of Plants and vote in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health).

The Commission considered it inappropriate to release such draft documents because (i) they are intermediate documents in a long, thorough review process; (ii) they do not reflect the views of the Commission; (iii) being based on incomplete data packages, they might be misleading if not read together with the results of the technical and scientific information requested and supplied after their preparation; (iv) release would require clearance under the standing rules of the Standi ...[+++]ng Committee on Plant Health and (v) they represent the views of one Member State and these views often change on the basis of new information, of peer-review, and of exchanges of views with other Member States.

If the House considers this to be an anomaly, then the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has the means to address the review of the wording of the standing orders.