European Union (Accessions) Bill

I am pleased to follow the Minister in what has been, as he said, a helpful and constructive series of debates on the Bill. There is broad cross-party agreement on the objective of bringing Bulgaria and Romania into the European Union, without for a moment belittling the great difficulties that remain and that need to be overcome. The Minister acknowledges that there is a serious programme of work to be undertaken in the coming months to get those countries to the point where they may be ready for accession. We have had some very useful contributions to this debate, including a helpful one from the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham). He gave us some assistance, thereby enabling us to withdraw our amendment on the free movement of workers. My hon. Friends the Members for Totnes (Mr. Steen) and for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) rightly raised some very important points about people trafficking and the scandal of such abuse. I see that my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) has returned to his place. He was quite right to raise some of the more profound issues to do with the future shape and direction of the EU as a whole and the type of EU that Romania and Bulgaria might join. In not too many years’ time, other countries such as Turkey and Croatia will become members, and even Russia may do so one day, although that may take a little longer. The Opposition are pleased to welcome the progress being made on enlargement, both with this Bill and with the beginning of the accession talks for Turkey and Croatia. Our proceedings have been very consensual so far, so I cannot resist saying that it looks increasingly as though the steps to enlargement may be the only achievements of the UK’s EU presidency. This week, Foreign Ministers from various member states have commented on the discussions about the future EU budget. For example, the Finnish Foreign Minister said:"““As there is nothing new to discuss, I have got nothing new to say””," while the Belgian Foreign Minister said:"““We are sitting here wasting our time””," and the Portuguese Foreign Minister said:"““They have done nothing about the financial prospects . . . We are not going to get any numbers today, just words.””" I am pleased to restore a little contention and rancour to our debate, as we do not like to have too much uninterrupted consensus in our proceedings. However, it is fortunate that we have something to show for the UK presidency, especially in respect of the more difficult talks about Turkey, and I have given the Minister and his colleagues credit for that before. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania should bring both countries great benefits, as it will ultimately to all member states. Enlargement is hugely important, both for the progress that it brings in the candidate countries and for what it does to aid the development of a more diverse and flexible EU. Recent discussions about the future EU budget have sometimes given the unfortunate impression that the whole point of membership for some of the newer members and applicant countries is to obtain grants and cash transfers from the EU or the wealthier members. That is entirely wrong, as it leads to the absurd proposition that has been raised this week—that the new members are paying for the UK rebate. Given that the UK is a major net contributor to the UK, that is clearly nonsense. Yet we must stress that the real value of EU membership for Bulgaria, Romania and the others that have joined recently is that it will reinforce their freedom, democracy, security and rule of law. It will also ensure their access to a single market, and we hope that that can be achieved in a way that is not overly bureaucratic or regulated. The Conservative party has always been an enthusiastic supporter of enlargement, whether that has involved the 10 states that joined last year, or Bulgaria and Romania, or Turkey and Croatia. We very much support the proposed accession that we have debated this afternoon, but the Minister knows well that the path to membership for Romania and Bulgaria will not be easy. The enthusiasm for the objective behind the Bill is shared by all parties, but that should not lead the Government or the EU to proceed uncritically in their assessments of the readiness of the two applicant countries for entry in 2007 or 2008. I believe that the Minister accepts the importance of bringing Romania and Bulgaria into the EU, but I hope that he is also aware that it is vital that we get it right.