European Union (Amendment) Bill

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, once again for putting the whole matter in historical perspective. It is nothing to be frightened of and therefore I was rather surprised by the anxieties expressed by both the representative of UKIP and the mover of the amendment. I suppose that there is an understandable anxiety about the inevitably complex appearance of legalistic language, when treaties are drafted, of the relationship between individual member states and the Union itself. This is a codification exercise that is bound to be progressive. If you consult carefully the leading representatives of the 10 member states that have joined recently—and the two others following them, including the two Mediterranean islands, of course—you will notice an enthusiasm always expressed by them for the fact that, as the Union is becoming bigger, allocation of competence, power and duty at the margin is bound to be increased to make the whole thing capable of going forward. If you do not do that, it would stall. The new member states wanted that when they signed up to the treaties and the acquis communautaire. Once again, if you are an enthusiastic member of the club, the old example of that is that you have to occasionally do what the other member states say. In fact, I distinctly remember a former senior Minister of the Conservative Government, the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, actually saying that in the House of Commons many years ago. It was quite a surprise to hear him say that, and I was very pleased at the time. It is a reality that we have to accept. The anxieties of the Conservative spokesman and the succeeding speaker, supporting Amendment No. 28A, would have been more justified if there had been any increase in the exclusive competences. As the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, rightly said, they are very brief. Of course, they cover major areas of collective endeavour—I certainly would not deny that. Nonetheless, it is a very short and modest list that we have all tended to accept, with the exception of monetary union in this country of course—and I regard it as a great pity that we have not yet joined what is rapidly developing as the most successful currency in the world, at least for the moment. It may not always be like that but it is obviously an impressive currency in international terms. However, with regard to the other matters, the list of exclusive competences does not create anxiety at all. It includes the customs union under Article 19 of the treaty of Rome 1957, and the competition rules, which I am sure most Members of this House would support. The only way in which there can be a completely free market with an open competition policy is for the Commission to have an exclusive competence to decide that in a European-wide sense, while not in any way infringing on the right of the member states to have their own national competition procedures and frameworks. The list also includes monetary policy, to which I have just referred. We are not yet members of that; we are part members of part of the consultative process but I hope that one day we will be full members. Although this may sound more unusual and esoteric, the list also includes the conservation of marine and biological resources. Perhaps that will be referred to later when we discuss common fisheries policy. One can see that that issue had to be exclusive because the conservation measures could operate only on sea areas that were wider than one member state’s ownership. Also included are the common commercial policy under Articles 110 to 116 of the treaty of Rome 1957, and the international agreements whereby it has been agreed that in future the Union can sign on behalf of all members. The areas of shared competence and supporting competence are more interesting from the point of view of those who have reservations or are not such enthusiastic Europeans as most members of the Liberal Democrat party in this House and, I hope, the other place. However, again, here the treaty simply sets out rationally the relationship between the Union and the nation states making up membership of the Union where those nation states, in free discussion in the Council of Ministers and the European Council, and by signing treaties on previous occasions, have agreed in a sovereign way that they are prepared to let the Union have some of that competence. Therefore, we on these Benches cannot understand the anxieties, and we hope that the amendment will not be pressed.