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European Union (Accessions) Bill

I know I have gone on a bit, but I will come to that topic before I sit down. The UK is the third largest investor in Bulgaria. Some of our major firms are there. Through the all-party group, I have contact with British businesses based there and I have been there to talk to British business men in years gone by. Last year 259,000 British tourists visited Bulgaria, not just to ski or for the sun—many are buying property in Bulgaria. Many of our constituents now have property there. No one would deny that Bulgaria has problems, particularly organised crime, which is dominated by several large criminal groups whose activities are accompanied by turf wars and inter-gang violence. Just last week there was a shooting incident in Sofia. Other speakers have mentioned the problems of Bulgaria’s borders. There is no doubt that the country is a transit area for the smuggling of people and drugs from Afghanistan into Europe. Hon. Members should not think that no effort has been made to stop drug trafficking from Afghanistan through Bulgaria. I have spoken to our agencies, which have worked with the Bulgarian authorities for years to put a stop to that. There are problems with the movement of drugs in this country as well, which we find difficult to control. It is said that only 5 per cent. of what comes into the UK is caught, but no one knows whether that is the true figure. Several hon. Members mentioned organised crime and the steps that Bulgaria is taking to tackle it. The Commission’s report earlier this year considered the problems in some detail. The Bulgarians do not deny that problems exist—far from it. In The Economist this week there are comments from the Prime Minister about the situation there. Bulgaria had elections in June, but it was not until September that a Government were formed from a coalition of three parties. Consequently, legislation that would go to the heart of the Commission’s report has been delayed. The new criminal procedure code that was mentioned was adopted by the national Parliament on 14 October. The code avoids any overlaps and ensures that the pre-trial system is efficient and transparent. Nobody denies that there are problems with the judicial system—there certainly are. In addition to the criminal procedure code, which is expected to be introduced in six months, another positive development has been the reform of the pre-trial phase and the decision of the constitutional court, which was taken on 1 September this year. There is also a new draft law on the Ministry of the Interior, which was adopted on its first reading by the national Assembly on 6 October 2005. Bulgaria’s efforts to sort out its problems should not be dismissed. It is working to do so with the help of the Commission, the UK Government and some of their agencies, and other EU Governments and their agencies. There is a determination to overcome their problems. No one should doubt that Bulgaria and Romania will join the EU. We have accepted that. The debate now is about whether it will be in 2007 or a year later. There are many problems, one of which involves the Roma people in Romania, which I have seen at first hand on more than one occasion. We deal with similar problems on a smaller scale in some of our communities every day of the week. The biggest event in my political life was not entering the House, but the fall of the Berlin wall, getting rid of ideology in Europe, and the change in our lives. I welcome the further step of Bulgaria and Romania’s accession, which will be a change for ever.