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European Union (Accessions) Bill

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. There is a serious debate both in the EU as a whole and in its member states. I hope that I am participating in that debate and making a strong point for the social democratic systems that worked so well after the second world war, which are being systematically dismantled. That is a great mistake. Opposition Members may choose a neo-liberal approach. We might choose a social democratic approach, but we should be able to choose democratically in our own countries. We should not be told, or even advised, by the bureaucracy of the EU to operate in a particular way. I finish by referring to corruption, which seems to be almost endemic in the EU. The European Court of Auditors has failed to approve the EU’s accounts for 10 or 11 years running. The European aid system is inefficient and corrupt and the aid does not go to the right places. The Department for International Development does a much better job, and we have made that point many times as well. The EU must look hard to itself if we want to stop corruption developing or even getting worse in countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, which are much weaker. It is significant that corruption in the poorer world is almost endemic. It is only when countries become relatively egalitarian and rich that corruption can be addressed seriously. However, we have those things in western European countries, and we still have corruption, so there is a problem. The best way to avoid corruption is when countries have to look after their own economies. If they are spending someone else’s money, they will be much more casual about how they spend it and what they do with it. I urge the House to support the entry of Bulgaria and Romanian into the EU, but we should allow them to develop their economies as they see fit—subject, of course, to proper human rights, as my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs. Ellman) said, and employment rights, environmental conditions and all those other things that are beneficial to the whole world. However, we should allow them to run their own economies, not force them into a particular mould.