Powers of Entry etc. Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 1: 1: Clause 1, page 1, line 6, at end insert— ““( ) No person, or class of person, who is acting under the authority of another government, or as an employee of an agency of the European Union, shall have power to act as an ““authorised person”” within the United Kingdom, unless Parliament has specifically so provided.”” The noble Lord said: I am delighted to have a chance to play a small part in the proceedings on the Bill. I do not come to this matter as a Europhobe; I am not in favour of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union or anything of that nature. However, one of the things I think is wrong with the European Union is the almost untrammelled power of the European Commission. It has the power to make directives with only the most limited control, and sometimes it brings forward proposals of moderate or no wisdom. I have the honour to sit on one of the EU sub-committees of your Lordships' House, under the wise and distinguished chairmanship of the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth. To be honest, we have to deal with a lot of the most appalling rubbish. Some of it is good stuff, but very little is. None the less, we do our best. I am bound to say that not all the members of the sub-committee take the same view as me, but on the whole there is a general view that many of the things that come from the EU are somewhat ill thought through. It seems that the EU is particularly difficult on the subject of subsidiarity. As my noble friend Lord Hurd once said, it continues to probe into the interstices of our private life here in the United Kingdom. That is entirely wrong. It is against that background that I propose Amendment No. 1 to ensure that it does not further impose itself in a way that would be regarded as bad or illegal under the provisions of this Bill as and when it, or something like it, I hope, becomes law one day soon. The Bill as drafted does not make clear that foreign officials, or officials of the EU or EU agencies, should have no right of entry to premises in this country except with the authority and consent of Parliament. Given the drive under the Lisbon treaty—if that is what it is called and if it is to come to pass—to extend the range of surveillance and justice powers, and the intrusion of the EU even into family law, it is important to add safeguards. European arrest warrants already exist and it is a short step to wider authority for EU officials to act untrammelled in the United Kingdom. I hope that my noble friend Lord Selsdon and the Minister will accept amendments to the Bill at this stage, or maybe at a later one, to include a parliamentary block on the exercise of entry powers by non-UK authorities or under orders of a non-UK judiciary. I also have some questions on this matter. Will the Minister let us know either today or perhaps in correspondence whether there are any Acts under which non-United Kingdom persons currently have powers of entry? Are there any proposals from the UK to prevent the exercise of such powers in the future, with appropriate assurances that Parliament will not concede any such powers without an affirmative resolution of both Houses? I am concerned that the EU may run amok if my noble friend’s Bill proceeds unamended. I beg to move.