European Union (Accessions) Bill

I am most grateful, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As I expected, the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson), with whom I had the honour to serve on the European Scrutiny Committee, gave a warm welcome to the new applicant members and their accession plans. He welcomed them to their natural home. Again, I agree with that. I was impressed by the speeches of my hon. Friends the Members for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) and for Clwyd, West (Mr. Jones). My hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith and Fulham reminded us that Greece will have an overland connection to Europe. Perhaps we can concentrate on improving that connection and get the Italians away from their obsession with a bridge over the straits of Messina, which I remember with some fondness from my days in the European Parliament. My hon. Friend raised concerns about corruption, minorities, drugs and people trafficking. My hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, West spoke specifically about Romania’s close links with north Wales but also commented on its being perhaps the unluckiest of all the applicant countries so far. The Minister for Europe said that the Bill enables the accession treaty to be implemented in UK law and approves provisions of the accession treaty in so far as they relate to the powers of the European Parliament. He also said that the Bill includes powers to make provision on the entitlement of Bulgarian and Romanian workers to work and reside in the UK. I followed the words of wisdom of my hon. Friend the Member for Altrincham and Sale, West (Mr. Brady) on that with great interest. He said that there was a compelling outstanding question. The hon. Member for Moray can now write to the employers in his constituency to tell them that the Opposition are interested in such issues. We expect the Minister for the Middle East to announce in his winding-up speech when the Government will announce whether the entitlement for the workers from Romania and Bulgaria will be issued immediately or whether there will be a transitional period. Can we expect any more one-legged roofers and electricians who are not in possession of all the equipment that they might need? If we are to raise the expectations of workers from those countries, it is important to tell them now when the benefits will be extended to them. Several hon. Members raised anxieties about the EU budget. I should like the Minister to confirm whether the UK will block overall expenditure within a limit in the EU. Will the Government give a commitment to do that? Will the Minister tell us which other member states currently support our view? That will give an indication of whether we are likely to achieve that goal.