European Union (Amendment) Bill

I have no idea, but it is nothing to do with the European Union. The question posed was whether Article 352 could be used to establish the European Gendarmerie Force and could the force operate in the United Kingdom. Article 308, to which the noble Lord referred, allows the Union to take action in pursuit of a Union objective where there is no specific legal base but any action would have to be agreed by unanimity—that is, we would have a veto. But that position would not arise because the European Gendarmerie Force is nothing to do with the European Union. There is no suggestion that it should be brought within the framework of the European Union using Article 352 or otherwise. In any event, it can operate only with the consent of the state concerned. So if the fear is that the EGF could operate in the UK, it could only do so if we asked it to. The United Kingdom does not participate in the European Gendarmerie Force. It is an initiative of France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Its purpose is to assist the international community in dealing with states in crisis situations. The EGF can only be deployed in agreement with the state in question. In short, the EGF has nothing to do with the EU, nothing to do with the Lisbon treaty and nothing to do with this Bill.