European Union (Accessions) Bill

Is my hon. Friend aware that on 18 November the German coalition Government—and I believe that Angela Merkel is here today—made a commitment to complete the ratification of the constitutional treaty during the German presidency of the EU in the first half of 2007? I have just been hearing evidence about the charter of fundamental rights, but putting to one side that charter’s implementation, there is no doubt that there is an impetus to achieving treaty ratification. Although my hon. Friend is completely right to raise the treaty question, what do we do about it? What sort of Europe do we really want?