President. −

Question No 4 by Bernd Posselt (H-0352/08)

Subject: Subsidiarity and EU membership

In a number of Member States, but above all in candidate countries, political parties and the media repeatedly claim that the introduction of ‘same-sex marriages’ or civil partnerships or the liberalisation of laws on abortion and euthanasia are compulsory on the basis of EU law and/or the acquis communautaire.

Can the Council clearly state whether and to what extent these claims are accurate or whether all these issues are purely national matters and/or are covered by the subsidiarity principle?