European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, I am a firm believer in continued British membership of the EU. I want us to be on the inside at the informal top table of Europe. I suggest that that table should be an E8 rather than an unmanageable E27. We would be with France, Germany, Italy and Spain, to which I would add Portugal, Holland and Poland. That would give us a QMV weight of 56 per cent. However, we must recognise that in Britain, public support for, or even acceptance of, the EU is very fragile, and increasingly so. The point the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, made about the reassuring abandonment of the symbols of sovereignty will not fool the British people. In this, as in so many other matters, my party is now closer to what the British people feel than are the other two parties. That is why I believe that the Government, having been foolish enough to offer a referendum, would have been wise to agree to hold one, but probably with two questions so that there could have been a strong British vote for remaining inside the EU whatever the decision on the treaty. I am afraid that this is another example of the Prime Minister’s dithering leadership of our country. The Government are en prise and so there will be no referendum. I see little point in going on about it. There is much that is good in the Lisbon treaty, but to me the most objectionable section of the treaty is Article 48 which encompasses the notorious passerelle, or self-regulating nature, of the treaty. Without that article, I would have backed the treaty. Sovereignty is the basis of a state, and sovereignty must be underwritten by the people for it to be a democratic state. My noble friend Lord Lawson referred to the American constitution. He used it as an example of the virtue of a constitution. I agree with him on that. It is a magnificent document that has lasted almost intact for 200 years. The 28 words of the 10th amendment to the American constitution, which forms part of the famous Bill of Rights that dates from 1791, puts so clearly and concisely the need to draw a line between a federation and its components that it is worth quoting in full: "““The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people””." What beautiful language. If only the drafters of the Lisbon treaty had had the literary and jurisprudence skills of James Madison. To change any part of the American constitution is no simple matter, which is why there have been so few changes. I think there is probably merit in the suggestion of my noble friend Lord Lawson for a simple limiting EU constitution that enshrines the concept of national sovereignty. The way in which the Lisbon treaty was agreed, that hurried decision in Brussels on 23 June during the last days of Mr Blair's premiership, is suspect. What deal was done with Mrs Merkel? Was it return for Mr Blair’s plea for Germany to send troops to Afghanistan, troops who turned out to be largely non-combatant? If so, it was not a good deal for Britain. To me, to abrogate from direct parliamentary control any further loss of sovereignty is simply unacceptable. The Government have of course offered in Clause 6(2) that Parliament has to approve any use of the passerelle. But it is only a simple vote, not a full piece of legislation, which is why I support the suggestion made by the noble Lord, Lord Owen, of primary legislation. The noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, referred to both Houses having a veto over any use of the passerelle. I doubt whether that is what the Prime Minister has in mind; he normally refers only to the House of Commons having a vote. How real will that consultation be? We all know that the House of Lords has a crucial role in scrutinising on behalf of Parliament legislative proposals from the Commission. Indeed, the EU Select Committee and its sub-committees have a considerable reputation in Brussels for the quality of their scrutiny. But let us be frank, all of us who serve on those committees—until the end of the previous Session I was on the EU Select Committee, and I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, on the committee’s most useful impact assessment—are aware that it can be a struggle against Whitehall to carry out that scrutiny properly. I was particularly struck by the powerful speech of my noble friend Lady Hanham about EU border controls. I shall suggest to my colleagues on EU Sub-Committee F that we study it carefully. I hope that the Leader of the House will deal with some of the points that my noble friend raised. Whitehall likes to manage its affairs in Brussels on its own. It does not welcome parliamentary interference. That is demonstrated time and again by delays in producing Explanatory Memoranda, the non-availability of Ministers to appear in front of the committees and often, especially with the Home Office, long delays—and I mean months rather than weeks—in replying to letters. The noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, wrote to the Home Secretary herself on 17 January complaining about the delay in responses to Select Committee inquiries and in answering parliamentary Written Questions and responding to letters. We have not yet had a reply to that letter. What is decided in Brussels is a product of horse-trading. It always has been and always will be. Deals are made, with the Foreign Office acting as broker. The Foreign Office will always try to get the best overall deal for Britain, but the problem is that the negotiations are often like a game of poker and the Foreign Office, although quite a good poker player, is always playing with other peoples' chips. We know, too, that when it suits the Government, there can be scrutiny override. Overrides are the product of collusion between arrogant civil servants and weak Ministers. Each is a replay of ““Yes Minister””. In the most recent 12 months for which figures are available, up to June 2007, there have been 31 scrutiny overrides. That is a greater number than the 27 amendments that there have been to the United States Constitution since it was signed in 1789. If all that is required for the use of the passerelle is a vote in both Houses, I foresee that, over a period, that will be less and less satisfactory. It will start fine, with nothing controversial. Then will come along something that really matters and the notice will be minimal. Quite apart from the whipping, which we expect, we will be told that for raisons d’état it is crucial that Parliament does not hold up the process of ratification. The main basis for my fears is the way in which this new Labour Government—this is my biggest single criticism of them since they have been in power—have treated the House of Commons in the legislative process. I refer, of course, to the abominable constitutional aberration of having a timetable, a guillotine, on every Bill. That cuts short inconvenient scrutiny of legislation. Fortunately, for the present, the House of Lords is there as a back-up for proper scrutiny. That treatment of Parliament, and the meek compliance of the House of Commons, is one of the reasons for the growing mistrust of politicians. I hope only that we shall never decline to the level in France, where all too often the mob, rather than their Parliament, is seen as the defender of the people. I am neither a Eurosceptic nor a Euro-enthusiast. I am a Euro-challenger, because I do not believe that we should lightly put the habits—good or bad—of our people in the hands of the Eurocrats. Brussels must be closely monitored, and the House of Lords is the best, and, at present, the only body capable of doing it.