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European Council

What my hon. Friend says is right, in the sense that the environment is one area where Europe must act together. There is no point in Europe taking measures to deal with the challenge of global warming unless other countries are part of that. That is why we are trying to use the G8 to restart the process of binding in other countries—America, and obviously China and India as well. This is an area in which Europe can develop measures such as the emissions trading system, and where we can take common action to protect our environment. People talk about what is wrong with Europe, but as a result of the changes made in the regulation of the water industry, we have enormously improved the quality of our rivers, our drinking water and so on within the European Union. There is much that we can do. My hon. Friend is right—that is one area where it is important that Europe acts together.