European Union (Amendment) Bill

That is all to do with the common agricultural policy and the track record. We all know where we are; the question is, where are we heading and where are we going to end up? That is why I found this debate very interesting. I hope everything that the noble Lord, Lord Kinnock—to whom I was referring before I was quite rightly interrupted—has told us is going to happen will indeed happen. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, for reminding us of those consensus words, but I remind him that his committee reported that it believed the balance on the European Parliament committees had changed. I am not yet persuaded, but if he and his committee are right, that is some hope for the future. I do not think I am going to satisfy the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, because he has already identified me as a European enthusiast. Although I would rail as much as he does against wrongful expenditure, I am not going to be able to answer him. The noble Lord, Lord Hannay, made some important points about the ““provisional twelfths”” and introduced some relevant comments from my noble friend Lord Tugendhat as a very effective way of curbing expenditure. That was also useful. Ideally, as my noble friend said, expenditure has to be at the right level. He is a wonderful exponent of that great principle of subsidiarity. That was a helpful contribution, too. I thought the noble Lord, Lord Tomlinson, erred in giving the European Parliament a slightly bad name about its motivation for passing the budget just before it went on holiday. However, I realise that it was a pleasantry, and I accept it as such. I recognise the relevance of what the Minister said regarding the Court of Auditors. All I would say in support of some of the comments that have been made is that in 2005 the European Anti-fraud Office was in receipt of 12,000 reported cases of irregularities involving the EC budget, including one involving grants totalling more than €1 thousand million. There is a situation that requires remedy; whether it is through the democratic control we have spoken about in this debate or through some other route, we can continue to speculate. This has been a valuable debate. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Dykes, said what a good debate it had been. I agree with him, but he has to recognise that it would not have taken place had it not been for the fact that the official Opposition have put down this amendment, which he and his colleagues are refusing to do on any part of the Bill. We would have no debates at all if it were left to the noble Lord. I would like to reflect on what has been said, and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.