EU: UK Membership

My Lords, I, too, very much congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McNally, on introducing the debate and on giving us this very timely opportunity to discuss the issues confronting the European Union. I agree, too, with the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, who followed me into the Commission, in what he said about enlargement. One of the tragedies of recent years is that this enormous success by the European Union has not been bruited about and not been claimed as a success, and, indeed, has been seen in some respects as a cause of problems. In fact, the spread of human rights, democracy and open markets to countries which were not only under communist rule for many years but some of which never enjoyed these benefits even before that is one of the great historic achievements of the European Union and something that in the long course of history will be regarded as of major significance. To turn to more immediate matters, I should like to address my brief remarks mainly to the Government but partly too to my own party. As far as concerns the Government, I am delighted that Mr Brown will be at the pre-meeting with President Sarkozy of France. It is, after all, Mr Brown who will be responsible for implementing whatever is agreed at the European Council, and it is absolutely essential that he should be involved in everything that goes into the make-up of the British negotiating position and indeed everything that goes into the negotiation. I have always understood that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is very close to Mr Ed Balls, and I noted that the noble Lord, Lord McNally, referred to the excellent pamphlet that Mr Balls published for the Centre for European Reform. I hope very much that the Chancellor will particularly bear in mind two sentences on the final page of the document. The first is: "““Defending our wider national interest means being at the table and winning the arguments. We will not succeed by withdrawing to the extreme and anti-European fringe””." Those are very wise words. The second sentence which I hope the Chancellor will bear in mind reads as follows: "““So we should reject ideological approaches to Europe in favour of a pragmatic and hard-headed approach that reflects the reality of Britain, Europe and the world in the 21st century: a successful Britain, strengthened by its membership of the EU, and an outward looking globally focused EU, strengthened by the UK’s active engagement””." If the Chancellor takes these as his guiding lights, it will be extremely helpful. I hope too that other countries will take the same approach. We are here mainly concerned with issues that face the United Kingdom. But perhaps some of the most intractable problems at the European Council will lie not in the areas of most interest to us, but in areas that are of more interest to Poland and some other countries. Therefore, I urge the British Government to do all that they can to help Chancellor Merkel resolve these issues and not simply stand on the sidelines hoping for a smash that will divert attention from some of our difficulties. A constructive approach by the British Government, not only on matters that concern us but on those that concern others, is highly desirable. I agree with those who say that for Mr Brown the stakes are very high. His priority at the outset of his premiership must be to build good relations with Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy. It is that which I hope will colour his approach to all the issues that come before the Council. It is absolutely critical, if the European Union and Britain in particular are to work effectively on issues ranging, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe of Aberavon, said, from climate change to Iran, to Israel and Palestine and to China, and how best to influence the United States, as well as on internal matters, that the three leading powers of Europe and the leaders of those three powers should be working closely together in a spirit of trust and harmony. In saying that, I do not mean in any way to diminish the importance of the smaller countries. The European Union is a community, the word by which it was known for a very long time. I certainly do not advocate any form of directorate, but the reality is that if Britain, France and Germany can work together and can provide a lead, the European Union is likely to work much more effectively than if they cannot. This is therefore, I hope, the beginning of a new era with new leaders who will enable that to happen. The Government’s aims so far as the mini-treaty, or whatever it is to be called, is concerned are clear. Under governments of both parties, we have always in this country said that we want less bureaucracy and better decision-making. Here we have an opportunity to achieve that. The noble and learned Lord,Lord Howe, and the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, enumerated a number of the issues. I agree with them that we want a permanent chair of the European Union; we want to get rid of the rotating presidency; we want a revision of the voting weights, which, incidentally, also would be beneficial to this country; we want a reduction in the size of the Commission; and we want the merging of the high representative on the one hand and the Commissioner for External Affairs on the other. These are all attainable. It must be the objective of the British Government to secure those changes. If we can secure those changes, that will justify a considerable celebration on the partof Mr Blair for his final European Council and Mr Brown as the man who will have to implement them. I hope, too, that we will seek agreement with our partners on issues in which we have more difficulty, such as justice and home affairs on the one hand and the Charter of Fundamental Rights on the other. But there are clear British interests involved in these matters. There are genuine differences of view between the approach to these issues in this country and in some other countries. If, therefore, it is not possible to reach an agreement to which we can sign up on these issues, we should not stand in the way of others but should seek to ensure that we are not bound by those decisions. There are precedents for that. It is always better if one can have everyone doing the same thing, but there is no point in having everyone doing the same thing if the same thing is contrary to the interests of the country that one is representing. Therefore, rather than stand in the way of others, we should let them go ahead and ensure that we stand outside. Finally, I turn to the position of my party. I do not share the deep antipathy of some noble Lords to referenda. Referenda have an important part to play in modern, British constitutional practice, but they should be invoked only when very important and serious matters are at issue. If there is a significant transfer of power from this country to the European Union, I am not opposed in principle to the idea of a referendum. But it is very important to be clear about what significant transfers of power imply. Certainly, technical adjustments of the sort that we have discussed, an amending treaty of the sort that is likely to be agreed, should not be put in that category. One must draw a clear distinction between what is important and what is merely an adjustment. If the judgment is made on objective grounds, the Conservative Party will be well able to stick together. But if the judgment is made that any change, for whatever reason, however desirable or however much in Britain’s interests, should be regarded as grounds for a referendum, I am afraid that there will be those in the Conservative Party who would be unable to go along with that. Those differences would apply not only in relation to calling a referendum, but also when the referendum campaign takes place. I hope very much that objectivity and good sense will apply in the Conservative Party, as well as on the side of the Government.