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European Union (Accessions) Bill

We have had an excellent, albeit intimate, debate, and I welcome the Bill on behalf of the official Opposition. I do not want to expose the Minister for the Middle East, who will wind up the debate, to internal grief, but when Greece joined the EU in 1981 and Spain and Portugal joined in 1986 the Labour party was not only against enlargement but against membership of the EU: how times change. The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, North (Mr. Henderson) spoke eloquently about the inspiration of the people. We cannot accuse bureaucrats in Romania and Bulgaria of being inspired, but he is right that we must carry with us the inspiration of the people to ensure that Euroscepticism, which we saw in some applicant countries in the run-up to their votes on accession, does not emerge in Bulgarian and Romanian national newspapers. Like me, the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Clegg) has had the benefit of being a Member of the European Parliament. He reminded us that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria will lead to a Europe of 500 million citizens, and we warmly welcome that increase in the size of the marketplace. He addressed the question of how to make an enlarged EU sustainable and, like my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Mr. Steen), referred to the Commission report and drew the conclusion that a great deal remains to be done. I want to spend a little time on the contribution of the right hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron), and not only because he is from Yorkshire. He referred to Romanian visas, and I hope that he was not accusing his own Prime Minister of being hysterical, because at Prime Minister’s questions in February 2004 the Prime Minister accepted that it is a real issue. I draw the right hon. Gentleman’s attention to page 44 of the excellent Library note prepared for the Second Reading debate:"““In the spring of 2004, allegations that ECAA””—" European Community association agreement—"““applications were being abused were made by a member of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate staff (Steve Moxon) and then by James Cameron, the Entry Clearance Manager and Consul in Bucharest. The Government ordered investigations which resulted in two reports on the handling of these applications.””[Interruption.]"