European Affairs

I shall begin by dealing with a number of specific issues of European concern. First, Iran: one of the most important matters facing the nations of Europe today, and one that will rightly be discussed at the European Council, is the question of our relations with Iran. We are deeply concerned about the Iranian nuclear programme. For more than a year Iran has refused to engage seriously with either the US or the International Atomic Energy Agency, despite the historic offer of engagement from President Obama. Given that the IAEA director recently said:""We have effectively reached a dead end"" on Iran, we are fast approaching a point where decisions about new sanctions will have to be made. Unless Iran changes course dramatically in the coming weeks, Conservatives believe that new UN and EU sanctions should be adopted in the new year as a matter of urgency. Those sanctions should include, at the very least, a total ban on arms sales to Iran, a tough new UN inspection regime, a ban on new investment in Iranian oil and gas, and action against the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The failure to deliver on such pledges is one reason why Iran feels that it can challenge the international community with impunity, since it sees little concrete demonstration of will to prevent it from going down that path. That must change, and we need concerted EU action in that area. The Minister also realised that this is a very important topic, and I hope that when he winds up he will be able to indicate a timetable that the Government envisage for new sanctions against Iran. Secondly, Bosnia: the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains of extreme concern to us. The country is not making progress. The international community seems not to have a proper strategy and the way forward remains most unclear. On Monday, I discussed with the Minister a new stabilisation and association agreement between the EU and Montenegro. I highlighted the fact that although there is a long way to go—and progress to date is certainly imperfect—a way forward into the Euro-Atlantic world is possible to imagine. By contrast, in Bosnia and Herzegovina the road ahead is simply blocked by inaction, and in some cases by the deliberate blocking of urgent constitutional reform. It is hugely disappointing that the SAA that was agreed with Bosnia has led to few real reforms and that important conditions remain unfulfilled. There is now a real danger that the progress made since the 1995 Dayton peace accords may be reversed. The international community—in particular, the US and EU member states—must remain vigilant. Plans to replace the office of the High Representative with an EU special representative and to downgrade EUFOR should not be implemented until Bosnia and Herzegovina can function on its own and a genuine process of constitutional reform and the allocation of state and defence property are fulfilled. If agreement can be reached, Bosnia can move forward into a process that could eventually lead to EU membership. The potential gains for the Bosnian people are huge, matched only by the potential costs of failure. It is time for the Bosnian politicians to put the interests of their people above those of sectional interests and allow the state and people to progress. Thirdly, Cyprus: we have just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, one of the happiest moments in Europe's recent history, yet on the island of Cyprus there is still a divided European capital city. The Minister and I have both visited Cyprus this year, and we would both like to see a settlement achieved. The current set of talks is now over a year old, and some progress has undoubtedly been made. President Christofias and Mr. Talat are meeting regularly and have discussed a range of issues, including the most contentious. There remain reasons to be optimistic that a lasting settlement can be made, but there are some clouds on the horizon. Public opinion on both sides shows signs of shifting away from support for reunification. Further, it could be the case that the April election in Cyprus's Turkish community might not produce a leader as committed to reunification as Mr. Talat. Further delay in reaching a settlement could risk missing the current opening in the clouds. We recommend that the Government use the European Council meeting as an opportunity to stress to the Cypriot Government our support for a settlement and the need for both sides to show leadership in order to reach a deal. At the forthcoming EU summit, the Government should also continue to support the principle of Turkish membership of the EU. We should be prepared to remind our European partners how damaging it could be if Turkey ever came to believe that there was no prospect of accession to the EU. We should also be prepared to raise with Ankara the need to grasp this opportunity to achieve a lasting settlement in Cyprus, perhaps through its demonstrating some greater flexibility that could be to the ultimate benefit of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots alike. Fourthly, the Copenhagen summit begins on Monday. It is of historic importance. It is an opportunity for the world to take bold action to deal with the real danger of climate change, and tackling climate change is rightly at the top of the EU's agenda. Any such successor deal agreed to at Copenhagen must be a rigorous one that binds the world in a common commitment to keep the rise in global temperatures to below 2° C. Any such deal must find an international mechanism to help people in the world's poorest countries protect themselves against future floods and famine, and stop the destruction of the rainforest—the green lungs of the planet. We hope that, with our European partners, we obtain such an outcome next week. Reference was made to a vote on climate change in the European Parliament last week. For the record, I should like to add that 13 members of the Liberal Democrat Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group abstained on the motion, while five members of the socialist group—including a number of Polish MEPs with whom the Labour party is allied—voted against. I think that it is important to hear about the voting records of all sides in this particular debate.