European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Bowness. We have the privilege of serving together on European Union Sub-Committee E of this House. We take rather different views on this treaty, and it is ironic that he should have been selected to speak just before me. Nevertheless it is one of the many pleasant paradoxes of this place that not only do we remain on the most cordial terms, but he also kindly drew my attention a few days ago to the fact that this Second Reading debate was scheduled for today. I do not know whether my colleagues will share that gratitude. In their respective manifestos at the last general election, all three major parties committed themselves to a referendum on the constitution. I campaigned on this at the last election for my putative successor and for others in other constituencies. I had also given this commitment on a referendum to many of my constituents, both orally and in correspondence, leading up to the 2005 general election. I could reiterate at length quotations from the German Chancellor, the Spanish Prime Minister, the Irish Taoiseach and many others. Mr Valery Giscard d’Estaing has been quoted often this afternoon and evening. The author of the European constitution stated that, "““the text is, in fact, a re-run of a great part of the substance of the Constitutional Treaty””." Michael Connarty MP, the Labour chairman of the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, has noted that, "““every provision of the Constitutional Treaty, apart from the flags, mottos and anthems, is to be found in the Referendum Treaty. We think they are fundamentally the same, and the Government have not produced a table to contradict our position””." I acknowledge that, for every individual member of this place and the other place, the comparison between the constitution and this treaty is a matter of personal judgment. It is my judgment on this treaty that we should have a referendum. Furthermore, the public believe that they are entitled to a referendum on the treaty. Great cynicism of politicians and the political process is fuelled by politicians failing to live up to the commitments that they make to the people. It is a sad fact that fact that individuals are pigeon-holed as anti- or pro-European Union. I support a referendum, but I also support our membership of the European Union. It should be a partnership of independent nation states which work together for the common good. I welcomed enlargement of the Union. The enlarged Union has worked perfectly well without this treaty. It is obvious that an organisation such as the EU is bound to evolve, but I maintain that Europe is seeking to evolve too fast and too far away from the democratic control of national parliaments. This frustrates and alienates the public. Europe should concentrate on doing less and trying to do that much better. During the past 15 years, we have had a series of treaties—Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice—in which more and more powers have been ceded to the European Union by the nation states. The European Union appears disdainful of the public and public opinion. Whenever the public are consulted and endeavour to put the brakes on further integration—for example, the French and Dutch in their referendums on the constitution—the reaction of the EU elite is to make a few changes and then have a rerun of the same thing, but this time without consulting the public. This disdain for the public is, in the long run, deeply damaging to Europe. The European Union should endeavour to involve the public far more accountably and democratically in its affairs. The public’s distrust of the European Union sows the seeds of major problems in the future. It would be open and honest for the European Union and the nation states to agree and commit to its ultimate constitutional destination. Is it to be a federal, integrated Union, or is it to be a more loose association of nation states? As to the treaty, I have concerns about the effect of the collapse of the pillars, about wider powers for the European Court of Justice, about the effectiveness of the opt-outs and particularly the self-amending provisions—the passerelle provisions. I was pleased to note that, when the Conservative amendments on these provisions were debated in the other place on 4 March, my party supported them. Parliament must retain the crucial role in these matters. There will be time to debate the treaty in detail later. However, the fact that the European Union will have its own separate legal personality will have far-reaching and controversial effects. This will not be the last EU treaty; as always, there will be more, each claiming that greater power should be ceded to the centralised institutions of the EU. In the mean time, I acknowledge that our future lies in Europe, but let us play fair with the people of Britain and the people of Europe. Let us together discuss and agree the ultimate constitutional settlement that is to be achieved.