UK Parliament / Open data

European Union (Accessions) Bill

Debate on bills on Tuesday, 1 November 2005, in the House of Commons, led by Douglas Alexander. The answering member was Lord Brady of Altrincham.
European Union (Accessions) Bill. Second reading debate. Agreed to on question. Programme motion on proceedings in Committee, on Report, Third reading and any other proceedings agreed to on question (formal).
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
438 c731-96 
Session
2005-06
Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Legislative stage
Second reading
Procedure
Programme motions
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
European Union (Accessions) Bill 2005-06. Explanatory notes Bill 51-EN also published.
Tuesday, 11 October 2005
Bills
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c742 (Link to this contribution) I cannot resist.
Anthony Steen | 438 c742 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend the shadow Minister give way?

Show all contributions (138)
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c741-2 (Link to this contribution) If anyone is hysterical, it is the former Minister for Europe, and not the shadow Minister for Europ...
Keith Vaz | 438 c741 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the shadow Minister for Europe for giving way. He has not answered the quest...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c742-3 (Link to this contribution) No, not at the moment. What arrangements do the Government expect to have in place for the initial n...
Stewart Hosie | 438 c742 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c742 (Link to this contribution) I am overwhelmed by my hon. Friend’s detailed knowledge of public sector salaries in Romania. It...
Anthony Steen | 438 c742 (Link to this contribution) I might be able to help my hon. Friend. Is he aware that the average wage for junior public official...
Ian Davidson | 438 c743 (Link to this contribution) Does the shadow Minister accept that he is being a trifle ungracious in attacking the Minister for E...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c741 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is previous in referring to me as a Minister. I shall give way shortly. What are...
Kim Howells | 438 c793 (Link to this contribution) I have made it clear that we will look at that closely and agree on the terms once accession is agre...
Keith Vaz | 438 c793 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend telling us that the scheme will apply to Romanians and Bulgarians, and will he giv...
Kim Howells | 438 c793 (Link to this contribution) The answer is no, but we will examine the position nearer to the date. A series of safeguards can b...
Andrew Mackinlay | 438 c793 (Link to this contribution) I see that the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality is sitting next to the hon. Gen...
Kim Howells | 438 c794-5 (Link to this contribution) I do agree. I think that in general there has been a bipartisan approach to the issue today, and bro...
Mark Hendrick | 438 c794 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that reform of justice and home affairs, and also economic reform, will ta...
Mike Hancock | 438 c782-6 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the House, especially those Members whose speeches I missed in my absence. I wrote ...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 438 c786-7 (Link to this contribution) We have had an excellent, albeit intimate, debate, and I welcome the Bill on behalf of the official ...
David TC Davies | 438 c781 (Link to this contribution) Is one of the connections between Wales and Romania the fact that both have been ravaged by decades ...
David Jones | 438 c781-2 (Link to this contribution) It is true that a certain amount of socialism has been inflicted on Wales, but possibly not in the e...
Greg Hands | 438 c780-1 (Link to this contribution) That is correct. Animal welfare was covered by my hon. Friends the Members for Shrewsbury and Atcham...
David Jones | 438 c781 (Link to this contribution) Like hon. Members in all parts of the House, I warmly welcome the imminent accession of Bulgaria and...
Greg Hands | 438 c777-80 (Link to this contribution) For the first time, under the Bill, the EU will reach the Black sea. For the first time, Greece will...
Mark Pritchard | 438 c780 (Link to this contribution) I agree that human rights and the other issues raised by my hon. Friend must be at the top of the ...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 438 c787 (Link to this contribution) And then there was calm. The first report confirmed that there was evidence that that category had ...
Speaker | 438 c787 (Link to this contribution) Order. The House takes a very dim view of electronic devices. I am not sure whether this one belongs...
Speaker | 438 c789 (Link to this contribution) Order. The debate has been well conducted so far and I trust that hon. Members on both Front Benches...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 438 c789 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As I expected, the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson...
Andrew Mackinlay | 438 c789-90 (Link to this contribution) : In retrospect, do the Conservative Opposition regret having opposed the generous and wholly correc...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 438 c790 (Link to this contribution) As always, the hon. Gentleman makes an interesting and positive contribution. We have asked a questi...
Speaker | 438 c787 (Link to this contribution) Order. I hardly need remind the right hon. Gentleman to use the correct parliamentary language.
Kevin Barron | 438 c787 (Link to this contribution) Three Opposition Back Benchers tried to get the agricultural workers scheme reintroduced before the ...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 438 c787-8 (Link to this contribution) I have made my point and I am delighted that the right hon. Gentleman has conceded it. I warmly wel...
Kevin Barron | 438 c787 (Link to this contribution) May I ask the hon. Lady to take my word for it? Before those reports were drawn up, I was party to a...
Kim Howells | 438 c790-3 (Link to this contribution) I welcome this evening’s debate. The Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Pais...
Michael Connarty | 438 c768-9;438 c768 (Link to this contribution) The Minister can check that out if he wishes because it was said to me not privately in a whisper, b...
Anthony Steen | 438 c769;438 c768-9 (Link to this contribution) I had the feeling at that meeting that the speaker might have been confusing the United Nations with...
Michael Connarty | 438 c770-1 (Link to this contribution) No. As we have done for people from the accession countries, we will allow people from Romania and B...
Keith Vaz | 438 c771 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that I missed the earlier part of my hon. Friend’s remarks. Is not it right that, if thos...
Michael Connarty | 438 c769 (Link to this contribution) I will leave the problem to be solved by those in government who must clarify such matters on our be...
Nigel Evans | 438 c769-70 (Link to this contribution) It is more than a challenge for the trade unions. Those people will be covered by UK legislation, so...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c773 (Link to this contribution) I take on board the hon. Gentleman’s comments. I did not intend to suggest any criticism—
Keith Vaz | 438 c773 (Link to this contribution) I should like to have stayed longer and visited such villages. That is why these debates are so impo...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c771-2 (Link to this contribution) I will support the Bill, but want to take the opportunity to sound a note of caution. I first visite...
Michael Connarty | 438 c771 (Link to this contribution) I was impressed with the contribution of my hon. Friend, and he makes his point well. It is easy to ...
Speaker | 438 c773 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman knows better than that. He used the word ““you”” in his intervention and...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c773 (Link to this contribution) I repeat that I certainly did not intend to imply any criticism of the hon. Gentleman. I simply wa...
Stewart Hosie | 438 c773 (Link to this contribution) Does not the hon. Gentleman see those two accession states, and others, as an opportunity for his fa...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c773-4 (Link to this contribution) I am accused in a sedentary intervention of carping negativism, but I am merely trying to highlight ...
Michael Connarty | 438 c774 (Link to this contribution) I made a point about people returning to their countries. Has the hon. Gentleman’s cousin left Polan...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c774 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to go into the personal life of my cousin. I could not possibly foretell what she wil...
Angus Robertson | 438 c774-6 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to speak in a debate that has been at times—let me put it this way—rather detailed. It ...
Angus Robertson | 438 c776-7 (Link to this contribution) : I am glad that we have in this country hard-working Poles who have come recently, along with those...
Anthony Steen | 438 c753 (Link to this contribution) : We thank the hon. Gentleman for giving us a guided tour of Bulgaria, which we find fascinating, bu...
Kevin Barron | 438 c752-3 (Link to this contribution) That is quite true. Unfortunately, we do not hear such debates on EU legislation. As I said, my con...
Stewart Hosie | 438 c752 (Link to this contribution) : On the broader point of making Europe more and more competitive, particularly in relation to the U...
Kevin Barron | 438 c751-2 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to take part in the debate. I have had a long-standing interest in Bulgaria and its peo...
Keith Vaz | 438 c757-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says no, but there was hysteria. The Conservatives said that all these people wou...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c758 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that the Conservatives made a real fuss about all these Poles coming over. I...
Keith Vaz | 438 c755-7 (Link to this contribution) I am certain that the hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) will be in the House when Roma...
Kevin Barron | 438 c753-4 (Link to this contribution) I know I have gone on a bit, but I will come to that topic before I sit down. The UK is the third l...
Lord Bannside | 438 c754-5 (Link to this contribution) I shall not deal with Bulgaria, but I shall deal with Romania, with which I have had personal contac...
Tony Baldry | 438 c759-60 (Link to this contribution) Until he started dilating, the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) made rather a good spee...
Kelvin Hopkins | 438 c760-3 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the opportunity to speak about, and to express my happiness at supporting, a Bill that pav...
Speaker | 438 c760 (Link to this contribution) Order. I hope that the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) will not take it in bad part if I choos...
Speaker | 438 c758 (Link to this contribution) Order. It would be helpful if we tried to look forward rather than back. The scope of this debate is...
Kim Howells | 438 c768 (Link to this contribution) I have certainly not heard any talk of US bases, nor did I hear such talk when I was in Romania....
Michael Connarty | 438 c767 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Totnes (Mr. Steen). I am reminded that a favourite adage ...
Anthony Steen | 438 c767-8;438 c767 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman feels that my speech was pessimistic. It was based on my own obse...
Michael Connarty | 438 c768;438 c767-8 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept that. I have always found that the hon. Gentleman’s activities on the European Scruti...
Tony Baldry | 438 c744 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may not have noticed that there has been some chuntering during his comments that rem...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c743-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is always more gracious in his criticism of his Ministers than I am, and that was...
Speaker | 438 c744 (Link to this contribution) Order. The point I am making is that it is all right to refer to that in passing, but devoting your ...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c744 (Link to this contribution) I am passing, Mr. Speaker, and approaching my conclusion. The EU, with enlargement, must become a r...
Speaker | 438 c744 (Link to this contribution) Order. That intervention is very helpful in giving me an opportunity to say that the Bill is quite n...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c744 (Link to this contribution) As ever, Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for your guidance, but it is crucial that we should bear in mind...
Doug Henderson | 438 c745-6 (Link to this contribution) I strongly support the Bill, because I strongly support the principle—and, I hope, the practice—that...
Mark Hendrick | 438 c746 (Link to this contribution) : My hon. Friend describes today’s EU as being something quite different from the EU of 1997, when...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c744-5 (Link to this contribution) No, because I am moving to the conclusion of my remarks, but it is always a shame not to hear from t...
Doug Henderson | 438 c746-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend’s observation is right. I would make the further observation that, although he and I ...
Doug Henderson | 438 c747 (Link to this contribution) I agree with many matters that the right hon. and learned Gentleman raises—I find myself in that cam...
Lord Campbell of Pittenweem | 438 c747 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is giving the House the benefit of an extremely thoughtful analysis. In preparing...
Nick Clegg | 438 c748-9 (Link to this contribution) The Bill underlines an intriguing paradox. It is the latest step in a remarkable process of enlargem...
Kelvin Hopkins | 438 c749 (Link to this contribution) : I am interested in what the hon. Gentleman says. Is not the serious division at the heart of Europ...
Nick Clegg | 438 c749-50 (Link to this contribution) I do not recognise that characterisation of the debates, which undoubtedly exist, about economic pol...
Angus Robertson | 438 c750 (Link to this contribution) : Has the hon. Gentleman happened on the parts in both reports that highlight the challenges both co...
Nick Clegg | 438 c750 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. That is merely one on a long list of outstanding issues that need to be dealt with in Romani...
Wayne David | 438 c750 (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman is making some good points, but does he accept that there is a slight danger of...
Nick Clegg | 438 c750-1 (Link to this contribution) I imagine that it would be difficult to apply a perfect measure of consistency. In the last process,...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c731 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Enlargement of the European Union is a po...
Angus Robertson | 438 c731 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister aware that members of the House’s European Scrutiny Committee are currently meeting ...
David Jones | 438 c736-7 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister know that, in the boundaries of Moldova, approximately 1 million Moldovans hold Ro...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c737-8 (Link to this contribution) The Minister was good enough to acknowledge not only that the Conservative party was a long-standing...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c737 (Link to this contribution) As I was seeking to make clear, we have not made a calculation at this stage. The presumption on whi...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c738 (Link to this contribution) I think that the new Labour dictum is, ““Concede and move on.”” We have learned that. We have alway...
Kelvin Hopkins | 438 c738 (Link to this contribution) I am interested to hear what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but does he recall that Edward Heath oppo...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c738-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman also knows that the Government claimed that the constitution was necessary for ...
Mark Hendrick | 438 c738 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman recall that, when the Nice treaty was put before the House, the Conservative...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c739 (Link to this contribution) It is a very good instance of the progress that has been made, but we need to see it being used, and...
Wayne David | 438 c739 (Link to this contribution) Let me make the same point that I made earlier. Does the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that, in the cas...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c739 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned border security with Romania and Moldova. That is important, because a part...
John Redwood | 438 c740 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that my hon. Friend thinks the acquis communautaire too bulky and often unhelpful. Woul...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c740 (Link to this contribution) I am asking the Minister to reply to that question. Whoever decides those questions must look both ...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c739-40 (Link to this contribution) As I am still struggling to learn how to pronounce my hon. Friend’s name, I am particularly impresse...
Stewart Hosie | 438 c741 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c741 (Link to this contribution) I shall deal with that point. One thing that we should learn from the previous expansion is that the...
Angus Robertson | 438 c740 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that many businesses throughout the country depend on the hard work of P...
John Redwood | 438 c732 (Link to this contribution) As the treaty is being brought in by means of amendment to the European Communities Act 1972, will t...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c732 (Link to this contribution) I am keen to make a little progress. Clause 2 will allow the Government to set the terms on which B...
Ian Davidson | 438 c732 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister, like me, recall that many of us who welcomed these accessions were told that they...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c732 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, we are ratifying a treaty consistent with our international obligations. The basis on which...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c731 (Link to this contribution) There was no intention that Members of the House would not be able to scrutinise the Bill to the d...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c734 (Link to this contribution) I assure the hon. Gentleman that there are procedures whereby the European Commission is able to ens...
Andrew Mackinlay | 438 c733 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the Minister can explain something that I do not understand. In relation to the 10 who...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c732-3 (Link to this contribution) It is not a comfortable matter for me to disagree so absolutely with my hon. Friend, but I think...
Daniel Kawczynski | 438 c733 (Link to this contribution) The Minister mentioned the assassinations in Bulgaria, but went through that point rather quickly al...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c733 (Link to this contribution) I disagree with my hon. Friend’s characterisation of the relative rigour with which the Union recogn...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c735 (Link to this contribution) We are concerned about both those issues. On child trafficking and people trafficking more general...
Anthony Steen | 438 c735 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister concerned, as I am, about child trafficking over the border into Romania and Bulgari...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c734-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised the important and historic concerns about fraud in the European Unio...
Lord Bannside | 438 c734 (Link to this contribution) The Minister knows that the Commission does not have a good record on scrutiny and cannot stop fraud...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c734 (Link to this contribution) I am certainly willing to welcome that. A broader question is how to address the practical challenge...
Wayne David | 438 c734 (Link to this contribution) On Bulgaria, will he accept that the recently elected coalition Government, led by Sergei Stanishev,...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c736 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend suggests, we showed considerable bravery at the time of the previous accession. I ...
Keith Vaz | 438 c736 (Link to this contribution) I urge my right hon. Friend to adopt the same practice as our Government used in the previous enla...
Douglas Alexander | 438 c735-6 (Link to this contribution) The matter is best addressed by more effective and deeper co-operation between member states of the ...
Keith Vaz | 438 c776 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman think that now is the time to get rid of the stereotypes that have somehow a...
Keith Vaz | 438 c758-9 (Link to this contribution) Mr. Deputy Speaker, I was definitely not going to dilate on this point. However, I should like to an...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 438 c740 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes an important point and that was one of the great missed opportunities of ...
Anthony Steen | 438 c763-7 (Link to this contribution) I first wish to make it plain that I support the Second Reading of the Bill and enlargement of the E...
Keith Vaz | 438 c741 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister—the shadow Minister—give way?
Speaker | 438 c787 (Link to this contribution) Order. I do not want the hon. Lady to be tempted too far down memory lane. We should concentrate on ...
Subjects
Bulgaria
EU countries
EU accession
Labour mobility
EU enlargement
Free movement of labour
European Union
Treaties
Romania
Legislation
European Union (Accessions) Bill 2005-06
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
Back to top