European Union (Croatian Accession and Irish Protocol) Bill

I will deal with that point more fully later in my speech, but let me respond to it briefly now. ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Yes, I will certainly give way to the Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee.

Under the Government’s proposals, Croatian citizens will be in exactly the same position as citiz...

Again, I will come to that point later in my speech, but, again, I will respond to it briefly. We...

The hon. Gentleman is talking about the risks, but of course there are opportunities as well. Is ...

I am sure you would not wish me to be drawn off the subject of Croatia, Madam Deputy Speaker. My ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree—perhaps he does not—that Croatia has the potential to be a tourist ...

The hon. Gentleman may well be right that lots of UK nationals will want to visit Croatia. All th...

Will the hon. Gentleman concede that the most widely spoken second language among Croatians who h...

I do not know whether that is true or not, because I do not know the respective numbers. Even if ...

If I understand the hon. Gentleman properly, he is talking about what will happen after the seven...

The hon. Lady makes a valid point. The position at the end of the seven-year transitional period ...

The hon. Gentleman has looked at the subject very closely so I am sure he will have considered th...

The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. There might be a sudden upswing in Croatia’s economy. Howe...

I am not clear about the hon. Gentleman’s arguments. Is he suggesting a further transitional peri...

My view is that the Government could negotiate a different set of criteria, which might involve a...

To be clear on the implications of the amendment, if it were passed, does the hon. Gentleman agre...

One can only surmise that that might be the case; I have no doubt that our European neighbours mi...

Sounds like you do.

No.

A fact that is as worrying as the difference between the comparative present wealth—I a...

Once again, the hon. Gentleman seems to assume that the traffic will be entirely one way and to b...

My hon. Friend makes a fair point and I have no wish to do anything to prevent UK nationals from ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall). All his speeches on EU ma...

As I have pointed out on a number of occasions, in around 2008-09 the largest group of people who...

I agree entirely.

To say that there are no skills shortages in this country in the sectors ...

Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is a little odd that the about-to-be Governor of ...

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman raises that point, because I understand that the new Governor o...

I very much agree with the point my right hon. Friend is making, as he knows, but I think that we...

My hon. Friend, who had a distinguished career as a Member of the European Parliament, is absolut...

It is a great pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz). ...

Does the hon. Lady agree that it would be helpful if the Minister clarified, perhaps on the basis...

I could not agree more. It would be useful if the Minister gave us the exact legal advice on the ...

I am sorry to disagree with the hon. Lady, but I remind her that the Bill includes the protocol f...

I respectfully disagree with the hon. Gentleman. The accession treaty with Croatia has been negot...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way again, because this is an important point that is w...

There is no clear precedent with regard to the accession of new member states. I believe that suc...

You’ve got me.

I have my hon. Friends, obviously, whose help and advice are always most welcome.

I look fo...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) for tabling the amendment. He was p...

Is that not the real issue? The reports from the European Commission that we have before us are f...

It will be for the European Scrutiny Committee to choose whether to refer the Commission’s third ...

Could the right hon. Gentleman clear up a matter of fact? The House of Commons research paper sta...

We debated this at some length on Second Reading, but I will take advice and might give a detaile...

I hope the Committee will forgive me if this has been covered in earlier debates when I was not p...

I am not certain about the position of the International Criminal Court, but I will either respon...

Perhaps it would be helpful if I followed up on the intervention by the hon. Member for Beckenham...

I am not going to get drawn into a further debate about the 2014 opt-in, opt-out decision on just...

Applying the amendment to line 7 on page 1 of the Bill would make it say that the accession treat...

I simply do not think that we can have 27 countries agreeing unanimously on a treaty text and com...

The Minister has made an important point. He should not hide his light under a bushel. I urge him...

My hon. Friends know where I stand on these issues. We always have a good-tempered but serious de...

Millions.

Possibly by millions of people, in every constituency in this country. It is right that Parliamen...

We have had a useful and interesting debate on the amendment. I thank the right hon. Member for L...

Will the hon. Gentleman confirm whether any of his constituents have written or spoken to him to ...

No, they have not. However, I often receive representations about immigration in general and diff...

This is a crucial clause because of what it shows about the potential of our relationship with th...

The original intention was to have a Czech protocol at the same time as the Irish protocol, but t...

I wish my hon. Friend would have more confidence in his own great country. We are a little bigger...

Would we make an increased contribution to the European Union budget as a result of Croatian acce...

I was hoping to come to that when we discuss the point at which the Bill comes into force, and it...

I often agree with the hon. Gentleman, but I do not today. These protocols are Euro-fudge and wha...

I am extremely sympathetic to what the hon. Gentleman says and I may be too optimistic about what...

I want to reiterate what I said on Second Reading about the Opposition’s support for the Irish pr...

Clause 2 provides parliamentary approval for the purposes of section 2 of the European Union Act ...

Will the Minister therefore help me? If two cases appear before the ECJ—one for the UK; one for I...

No, the treaties apply equally to every member state unless an explicit derogation or opt-out is ...

The Minister is a mind reader—that was exactly the point I was about to ask him about. Does the p...

Yes, that clarification is of benefit to every member state, should such litigation be necessary ...

I am sorry to trouble the scorers again, Mr Crausby. I hope I will not be the only one trying to ...

Clause 4 provides a regulation-making power to make provision on the entitlement of Croatian work...

The clause is all about workers. When the hon. Lady’s party was in Government, it also allowed tr...

The previous Government looked at this issue, and the current Government have also tried to raise...

Clause 4 outlines, in its various subsections, how the transitional regulations will be structure...

The example that springs to mind is of people working here while their children remain in their o...

My hon. Friend is right that those things undermine confidence in the system, despite the fact th...

I am sorry to interject, but as Labour seems to recognise this concern—such recognition has been ...

The Government are always willing to listen to constructive ideas, from whichever side of the Hou...

Just for the record, as I set out earlier, what the hon. Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris...

rose—

Order. It would be nice if we could get back to clause 4 stand part.

Indeed, Mr Crausby. I welcome the outbreak of bipartisanship.

Finally, one of the lessons i...

I thank the Minister for giving way, as I know he wants to conclude. He said he did not want to g...

This boils down to differences in the legal systems operating in different parts of the United Ki...

I beg to move amendment 1, page 4, line 4, at end insert ‘or subsequent’.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment 5, page 4, line 7, at end ins...

Amendments 1 and 2 are straightforward. I am sure that Her Majesty’s Government, in their amazing...

The de Montfort family were, of course, European migrants.

I hoped that the hon. Gentleman was going to find some link between the de Montforts and Somerset...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Crausby.

My amendment 5 is also a min...

I appreciate that the hon. Members for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-Mogg) and for Bury North (...

The purpose of amendments 1 and 2 is to require that any regulations to implement the transitiona...

indicated dissent.

I would not impute that to my hon. Friend, but I was conscious of the fact that Simon de Montfort...

I have listened to the Minister with great care. The problem with comparing anybody to the great ...

I beg to move amendment 4, in clause 6, page 4, line 15, leave out subsection (2) and insert—

With this it will be convenient to discuss the Question that clause 6 stand part of the Bill.

This will be the last amendment to be discussed in Committee. It would enable the House to revisi...

I think the amendment is excellent, worthy of the whole Committee’s support. Although enlargement...

My hon. Friend is making a strong case for changing the way in which we deal with a country’s acc...

My hon. Friend is entirely right. It is important to set a precedent in this instance. I do not u...

This is an important amendment, and it is right for it to be discussed properly. As has already b...

The accession process for Croatia has certainly been more rigorous and demanding than those for p...

Clause 6(1) makes provision for the territorial extent of the Bill. It extends to the whole of th...

Before the Minister concludes, will he answer my question about the security of the border with B...

I think that relates much more to Third Reading, when the Minister will have an opportunity to de...

I am grateful for that guidance, Mr Crausby. I have some details on that matter and will be happy...

I have listened carefully to the Minister and to the debate. I must say that if Croatia is as rea...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

I thank all right hon. and hon. Me...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that Croatia should have had to face a very high test to...

When I talk to Bulgarian and Romanian Ministers, they are the first to say that the current situa...

As I said on Second Reading, the Opposition welcome the Bill and support the accession of Croatia...

May I begin by reciprocating the kind thanks from my right hon. Friend the Minister? When debatin...

In these times when the EU is strongly criticised in this Chamber and more often outside—sometime...

I congratulate the Minister and his team on shepherding this small but potentially tricky Bill th...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

With some trepidation.

My hon. Friend is being too modern. I was comparing it with the Yugoslavia of Tito.

Okay, but the violence broke out some time after Tito’s death. It was the explosion of nationalis...

That is the whole point. The fact that Tito enforced a false union that people did not want led t...

At the risk of deviating into a discussion about Croatian history, I would say that some of the n...

I support the hon. Gentleman absolutely on that point. There are still people living in Croatia w...

The hon. and gallant Gentleman makes an important point of which he obviously has expert knowledg...

Like the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-Mogg), I rise with unexpected and partic...

Order. I have given the hon. Gentleman some latitude, but it would be useful if he mentioned Croa...

I am grateful for your guidance, Mr Deputy Speaker.

In looking at what was happening genera...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that my hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-...

I bow to the hon. Gentleman’s greater knowledge of the Carlton club than I have or am ever likely...

I do not need to declare my membership of the Carlton club, but I feel I should.

Question p...