EU: UK Membership

My Lords, I, too, commend the noble Lord, Lord McNally, for introducing this debate—and very timely it is, just a week before the summit. Despite having entered its second half century, the European Union continues to excite as much debate as ever within the UK—much of it ill-informed. It seems that we either love it or loathe it; there is very little in terms of a centre ground. I have never been able to discern much logic associated with that dichotomy, but I am pleased that not much of it has been in evidence in the debate this afternoon. In opening the debate, the noble Lord, Lord McNally, was right to highlight the fact that one of the aims of the EU’s founders—maintaining peace between nations—stands as a pillar of their vision, and is by any standards a major achievement. I would add that as the Union has grown, it has drawn to it states, or in some instances constituent parts of states, that were formerly under fascist or communist control. Now as democracies, they play a full part in the enlarged EU, and next year, for example, Slovenia will assume the presidency. Another major achievement of the EU is the fact that we live in the world’s largest single market, which is an example of Europe working at its best. The result is that today more than half of all UK trade is within the EU. But there is more to EU membership than shared wealth. It has opened up new opportunities for employment, travel and cultural exchange. We can now live, work and vote across Europe, owing to a legal framework which guarantees our shared right to the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. Many EU laws and directives affect key aspects of our lives: from food safety standards to employment rights; from mobile phone charges to how clean our beaches are. The UK at the same time has become increasingly influential over the policy agenda of the EU: from the development of the single market—a dynamic and continuing process—to enlargement; from regulatory reform to climate change and energy. Many UK local authorities, and all of the devolved Administrations, now have a presence in Brussels, as do many businesses and business associations. That is the case, too, with the larger trade unions. My noble friend Lord Lea referred to the trade unions and what they can do in terms of Europe. My own union, Amicus/Unite, has a Brussels office and a European forum of MSPs which projects the union’s policies at all levels in Europe. Perhaps the best example of its effectiveness is the input the union had on the intensive drafting and re-drafting before the services directive was finally agreed towards the end of last year. That kind of activity is merely a reflection of the fact that much of the EU’s current work programme is firmly focused on issues that affect our everyday lives—right now, such as cheaper energy, or in the near future, such as tackling climate change. Climate change has been referred to by many noble Lords this afternoon. The noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, eloquently outlined what needs to be done. But meaningful action cannot be contemplated on a national basis; it must involve co-operation on a much wider basis than just Europe. The role that the EU can play in combating climate change is understood and is evidenced by the fact that the issue was designated as the leading EU priority for British nationals, in the Euro-barometer poll undertaken in December 2006 when 43 per cent of respondents cited it as their main concern. It seems that EU leaders have got the message because the European Council in March agreed an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. Of course, there are other environmental challenges that require attention, such as the EU emissions trading scheme being widened and deepened, and greater urgency being given to building agreement on a post-Kyoto settlement, but we should be prepared to acknowledge that what progress there has been on these global issues would have been much less were it not for the EU. Next week’s EU Council in Brussels marks the end of what has been a positive German presidency, but it will inevitably be dominated by attempts to find an alternative to the EU constitution. Eighteen member states have now ratified it in one form or another, but the constitution has been dead in the water since the people of France and the Netherlands rejected it two years ago. I believe that we need a treaty in some form because deepening, widening and strengthening the institutions should go together. Chancellor Merkel said that she is seeking the adoption of what she terms a ““road map”” for a revised treaty, but believes that the main stumbling block is Poland. The noble Lord, Lord Kerr, referred to the issues with which that country is most concerned. Certainly that country has threatened to veto a deal without changes to the voting system envisaged under the draft treaty. It seems that the Czech Republic, among others, may also prevent agreement being reached, but what will be the UK’s role in this crucial issue for the EU’s immediate future? Perhaps more pertinently for the UK’s immediate future, where does the incoming Prime Minister stand on the constitution? According to today’s newspapers—again my noble friend Lord Lea mentioned this—Gordon Brown, along with Tony Blair, is to meet President Sarkozy in London on Tuesday in an attempt to find common ground on a simplified treaty. I hope that they have success. But what is Gordon Brown’s policy on Europe? We do not know to any significant extent what attitude Prime Minister Brown will adopt, although we were perhaps provided with a glimpse of its likely shape in the recent Centre for European Reform pamphlet, already referred to by noble Lords, published by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Ed Balls. In it,he spelt out what he termed ““hard-headed pro-Europeanism””, in which Britain co-operates more closely in areas of shared European concern, but says no to proposals deemed contrary to the national interest. He also seemed to be stressing inter-governmental co-operation rather than a stronger role for Brussels. The danger is that, should the new Prime Minister be seen to have an influence in a manner that leads to the blocking of a revised, slimmed-down treaty, that could be damaging to the UK, diminishing the voice that this country might have in future negotiations such as those on reform of the EU budget and the common agricultural policy. One of the problems is that, too often, the negatives of EU membership are stressed, not least by some politicians and certain newspapers. They are usually described as Euro-sceptics when, in fact, they are often plain anti-EU, or even anti-European inthe wider sense. Their negativism—through what the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, earlier described as the noise drowning out the reality—has the effect of distorting the debate on Europe. I hope that Prime Minister Brown will move that debate onto new ground, one that begins to rebuild support for the extent to which Europe has already helped to improve the lives of its citizens and is continuing to do so. I have already suggested some of the issues that could be highlighted, and Ed Balls did so in his pamphlet, particularly emphasising energy and the environment. On a revised version of the European constitutional treaty, it is important that efforts are refocused on a conventional treaty where the aim is to make Europe more effective, rather than a document with the characteristics of a constitution. The major issues on which the UK will have difficulty are, of course, justice and home affairs, with the extension of majority voting and the inclusion of a Charter of Fundamental Rights. Should the former be agreed, it would cause difficulty to any UK Prime Minister, because we have already negotiated an opt-out. So if it were included in a redrafted treaty, it would become a constitutional issue, making a referendum in this country unavoidable. I make no apology for saying that I cannot foresee anything more damaging than a referendum on a new treaty, not just to the UK’s future role within the EU, but perhaps ultimately to our very continuation as an EU member. Some noble Lords have already highlighted the dangers inherent in a referendum. The prospect of a campaign around that is at best unattractive and at worst appalling to contemplate, with newspaper editors—not just those of the tabloids—having a field day by pandering to xenophobia and misrepresenting many aspects of what the EU stands for and what it can do for the people of the UK. It would be deeply divisive, possibly causing damaging splits within the political parties as happened with the 1975 referendum, as many will recall. Should the revised document be described as, or perhaps even be capable of characterisation as, a constitution, or contain major changes that can be deemed to be of a constitutional nature to the UK, its ratification would require a referendum in line with the undertaking given by Tony Blair in 2005. An amending treaty, however, would involve something less dramatic and could be taken to Parliament for decision. That would be nothing unusual, because Europe has had a series of revisions and treaties revising its rules over a considerable time, from Maastricht to Nice. That is an accepted means of doing things and, in this case, would be much less damaging both for the UK’s reputation and influence in Europe and beyond. I very much hope that the premiership of Gordon Brown, which I eagerly anticipate for many reasons will be characterised in its early phase by a positive approach to the EU and to the UK’s role at the centre of it. While, on some political issues, a Brown/Merkel/Sarkozy triumvirate would not necessarily be appropriate, on the advancement of the EU I believe it would. It appears that Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy would welcome close collaboration between Berlin, London and Paris. It would benefit the immediate future of the EU were that allowed to take root and flower.