European Union (Amendment) Bill

It is called a health check; it is not a reform. The aim of the health check was simply to see whether we are still paying as much money as we were previously. We are, so that health check is fine. The noble Lord, Lord Taylor, said that the common agricultural policy has given consumers reasonably priced food. I am afraid I have to take issue with him on that as it is simply not the case. The common agricultural policy, even reformed, still consumes some 45 per cent of the total EU budget, so it is worth discussing that. That means that UK taxpayers are paying more than they need to for their food because they are paying for the common agricultural policy through higher taxes and they are paying higher prices in the shops because of the common agricultural policy’s protectionist policy against imports from third world or developing countries, which is an outrage. The noble Lord, Lord Tomlinson, is right to say that we need more reform and I agree with him, but perhaps he will recognise—I hope that the Minister will recognise this when he replies—that the Government’s position was enunciated by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, only last month just before we had our Committee stage debates. The Chancellor said in terms that he would like to see the end of all common agricultural policy subsidies and the end of all protectionist tariffs against products and commodities from developing countries. That is good and I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Tomlinson, agrees with those laudable sentiments, all of which have been supported on all sides of the House over many years. However, let us have a reality check. What has actually happened? What did the big players say about that? The German agriculture minister, Herr Seehofer, said that what the Chancellor was suggesting was absolute, complete rubbish. The French agriculture minister, Michel Barnier, far from agreeing with those sensible proposals from our Government, said no, the CAP is a good model. He went further and said that it should be exported worldwide. I wonder whether the Minister agrees with that. It really is odd that we say that we are leading reform. I have not yet read the report of the noble Lord, Lord Sewel, but I am sure that it makes all the right noises, as EU Select Committees always do. However, it does not seem to be getting the attention that it deserves in the corridors of power in Brussels.