European Affairs

I am grateful. That is in strong contrast to the group in the European Parliament that the Conservative party is in; I think that is the point that the Minister wanted me to make in response to his intervention. I turn to economic issues, and particularly financial services, which have been of interest in the past few days. There has been concern in the press, which the hon. Member for Rayleigh rightly mentioned, about the French Commissioner Michel Barnier being appointed to the directorate-general of the internal market. Colleagues in the House and outside are right to raise concerns, but my only request is that they do not overdo them. First, the top civil servant in that directorate-general who will advise Michel Barnier is a Brit, Jonathan Faull, so there will be a British representative at the table when things are discussed. As one Conservative Member rightly pointed out, the chairman of the internal market committee in the European Parliament is Malcolm Harbour. I concur with others who have said that he is a very good Member of the European Parliament and that he represents British interests extremely well, albeit from a Conservative position. I believe that co-decision making—no doubt the Tories opposed that when it was proposed, but it is in place—will enable the committee to have a real say and to prevent the introduction of measures that are against the City's interests. I would also point to a Liberal Democrat MEP, Sharon Bowles, who is chair of the economic and monetary affairs committee, which also deals with matters that affect the City. She is extremely strong. She is extremely well respected in the City and across Europe for standing up not only for British interests, but for a sensible single market in financial services.