European Union (Amendment) Bill

Inspired by the very sagacious, although brief, contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Jay, perhaps the natural wisdom of the Liberal Democrat Benches on these European matters can be deployed tonight to provide miniature arbitration between the noble Lords, Lord Tomlinson and Lord Lea of Crondall. Although the noble Lord, Lord Lea, was not sufficiently severe on the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, for proposing this extraordinary amendment, none the less we would all defend the right of the noble Lords, Lord Pearson and Lord Willoughby de Broke, and others to say what they want in these debates when proposing amendments. That is the natural right of Members of both this House and the other place, so perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Tomlinson, was being a little too brutal. Normally he is not like that at all—he is a very gentle person. However, on this occasion the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, misused the opportunity by misquoting, as usual, but we were pleased to note that he challenged the Tories on their views. The Tory views on the cohesion fund and the social fund and their future are rapidly approaching those of UKIP. Indeed, a whole series of amendments was tabled in the other place and adopted by the Tory Front-Bench spokesmen in this House. We are now at the beginning of the amendments that start ““Page 1, line 12”” and go on to refer to Article 1. This is not a Tory amendment; it is in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, so he cannot be accused of plagiarising anything from the other place. However, the long list of Conservative amendments referring to line 12 followed by the word ““excluding””—the exclusion zone, one might say—are all, as we know, taken word for word from the amendments tabled not only by the Conservative Front Bench in the other place but by what a few years ago were the dastardly rebels on the Conservative Benches. I refer to the anti-Europeans Mr William Cash and Mr David Heathcoat-Amory, who I think are the two gentlemen responsible for 80 per cent of the contributions and amendments made in the Committee stage of the whole House in the other place. It is a very sobering thought that the gap between the official approach of the Conservative Party on Europe and on individual detailed European policies and the approach of UKIP is rapidly narrowing to the width of a cigarette paper. It may not be quite there yet and there may be some small exceptions to some policies but in general the Official Conservative Opposition is now deeply rooted in profound hostility to the European Union in respect of the exciting new proposals in the modest Lisbon treaty, which is very far from being a constitution. We know that the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, referring to the replacement Article 2 and changing paragraph 4—unfortunately my spectacles are broken so I shall have to guess the words—wants the Government to move away from supporting in the European Union what the cohesion fund and social fund will do in the future. Article 1 in the old text concerning the competencies of the Union and Article 2 concerning the objectives, the cohesion policy and the solidarity of policy are agreed policies of the sovereign member states of the European Union, and they have what I hope is the understandable enthusiasm of the British Government. Therefore, we on these Benches accept that those would be good things to keep. As one or two other speakers have already said, there is a natural role for the Commission in funding these policies at the margin in the member states. I think, in particular, of the 10 or 12 new member states but mostly I think of the eastern European states which need a lift-up to reach the average on incomes, wealth and output, as well as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Around 35 per cent of the total EU budget for 2007-13 is allocated to the structural and cohesion funds, some £7 billion of which has been reserved for projects in the United Kingdom. Therefore, tonight we note that the noble Lords, Lord Pearson and Lord Willoughby de Broke, with enthusiasm, wish to abolish that effort. Those funds would not be repatriated in the sense that the British Government would immediately pick up the tab—that certainly would not be the case—but there would be a loss of funds to the areas in the UK which need that assistance. The cohesion fund is available only for those member states with a gross national income per inhabitant of less than 50 per cent of the EU average. We Liberal Democrats believe that a regional policy developed at the European level has a very important role to play at the margin. This is a modest amount of money in comparison with what the national member states all spend on economic rehabilitation and resuscitation of weaker areas and in ensuring that the EU remains competitive and attractive in today’s globalised environment. EU regional policy promotes convergence within the EU, which is necessary if Europe is to maximise its strength. That has always been a sacred principle. It is only reiterated in the Lisbon treaty and advanced by way of the objectives, albeit couched in fairly vague language. The reference to solidarity can mean a number of different things to different people, but in specific policy terms it means the ancient and respectable principle of redistribution to help poorer areas, poorer families and poorer villages and towns enshrined in the statutes of the EU as well as in those of the national member states. We repeat again and again to reassure our hesitant and nervous UKIP colleagues that the powers therein are conferred only by the will of the sovereign member states. There is no excessive use of power emanating from any other source whatever. That is why we support that policy with enthusiasm. Therefore, when the Minister replies on this very dubious, shaky and unnecessary amendment, we hope that she will also endorse the Government’s enthusiasm for the same objective.