European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, as I am neither a member of the Constitution Committee nor—for the time being, I hope temporarily only—have anything to do with the European Committee, I hope that my innumerable years’ service on the Legal Affairs and Constitutional Affairs Committees of the European Parliament will enable me to make a minor contribution. In her elegant and plausible introduction to the Government’s policy the Leader of the House made an analogous argument to that on the scrutiny of policy. Yet, as we have seen from this debate this afternoon, at European level there are two separate issues for consideration: policy and competence. Competence is a different question from policy. One could describe our discussion in shorthand terms as concerning red lines and whether to cross them. I wish to make clear that I am not a Eurosceptic and I have no trouble with crossing red lines if it is in the national interest to do so. However, in the context of competence and red lines, we are talking about Parliament’s authority. In the context of whether parliamentary authority should be granted, I believe that Parliament and not the Government should be in charge. If too many proposals come before Parliament for it easily to handle, it is for Parliament to change its rules in order to be able to deal with them. This particular cart and horse should be that way round. We have heard a lot about accountability but I do not believe this is about that; it is about authority. The citizens of this country understand the distinction between accountability and authority and expect it to be understood and included in the Bill.