European Union (Accessions) Bill

I regard that as a pretty irrelevant comment. The nature and form of the EU will be affected by these accession arrangements. For example, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says that the current gross domestic product per capita of the 25 member states is $21,800. That figure happens to be half that of Norway and Switzerland, and it will inevitably decrease when Bulgaria and Romania join. The important point is that we have a regressive, declining EU economy, which will be made worse by bringing in countries that will inevitably drag that figure further down. We could avoid a lot of those difficulties if we were to have a different kind of Europe. The kind of Europe that I should like would be based on associate status, along the lines of the European Free Trade Association. Some adjustment may be needed, but that is basically the direction in which we should be going. Indeed, a recent ICM poll showed that, when the people of this country were asked what kind of EU they wanted—whether they wanted one as it stands now, or one with associate status along EFTA lines—60 per cent. of all those asked and 68 per cent. of 18 to 24-year-olds said that they wanted the latter. So there is a political problem for the Government.