European Union (Amendment) Bill

I support the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Goodlad. He has set out the case for parliamentary scrutiny and I would find it very odd if this Chamber did not provide the machinery for appropriate parliamentary scrutiny of very important decisions. The noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, who chairs the Select Committee of the European Union, very appropriately wrote, "““There is no separate scrutiny on whether or not to opt-in to measures under TEC Title 4; decisions are mentioned in the Explanatory Memorandum and are dealt with simply as part of the scrutiny of the proposal””." He promises in his letter—since that time he has heard evidence from the noble Baroness—to consider whether the scrutiny offered is adequate. He underlines the need to know what the Government’s thinking is and, secondly, what parliamentary control should be available so that we can be sure that we are moving in the right direction. I have read the reply of the Leader of the House and, frankly, I am not impressed by it. It has, I fear, been put up to her by the Foreign Office and I understand fully that it represents the view of Her Majesty’s Government. It states: "““Parliamentary control on individual opt-in decisions … would impede our ability to participate fully and effectively””." I should like to know a little more on that. What a nuisance Parliament is to our man in Brussels. Like the man in Whitehall in the 1940s, he knows best. Are we not part of the legitimate democratic machinery that is available at the moment in this country? Should not we—I speak not for the Commons—have our opportunity to scrutinise? The noble Baroness goes on to say: "““The timetable is very tight””." Why was three months put in during the negotiations? Why was not a longer period put in? That question was put to the Leader of the House by the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, during questioning, but I do not think there was any real answer. Why did anyone think that there are different parliamentary procedures in each part of the European Union? Some of them can move swiftly and others take a little more time. I do not think we can be faulted on that basis. The noble Baroness set out in her evidence to the committee her experience—substantial experience, if I may say so—of how fast-moving discussions are in Brussels. I heard the noble Lord, Lord Owen, tell us of his experience last night; other noble Lords have had a similar experience. Decisions are taken very late in the night; decisions are taken as a result of negotiation. We should, however, be able to have the Government’s thinking and be able to anticipate in what way we are going to be tied down by such an agreement. We are in new territory and the Leader of the House says that it would be extremely difficult to have machinery of this kind. Very wisely, she says that it is not impossible. I am sure if there was a danger of missing a particular deadline that Parliament would find the means, double quick, to ensure that it played its part in the process and that we would not be prejudiced in that way. It was Churchill who said that democracy is a poor way of running a country but he could not think of any better. I paraphrase and borrow some of that sentiment in emphasising to the Chamber the need for appropriate parliamentary control. I support the noble Lord’s amendment.