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European Council

No, we are not, for the very simple reason that the direction of Europe is towards enlargement. That is why we have allowed those 10 new countries to come in. Let us just see for a moment where we agree and disagree. The hon. Gentleman supports enlargement; yes, he supports enlargement.—[Interruption.] Come on. He supports the wealthy countries paying for the poorer countries. That is right too; isn’t it? Although he supports enlargement and he supports the wealthy countries paying for the poorer countries, he does not support Britain paying any money for it. He talks about a crisis in the European Union. What sort of crisis would there be if he were in charge with that policy? The hon. Gentleman talks about the rebate. Let me tell him that the rebate, as I have just explained, is rising not falling—[Hon. Members: ““No, it is not.””] Yes, it is, because it remains on all common agricultural policy money. He and his Back Benchers say, ““Why is not France paying for this?””, but France is getting a bigger net contribution loss than Britain in the next financial perspective.—[Interruption.] Let me explain to hon. Members what is actually happening: the structural and cohesion fund budget covers about 35 per cent. of all spending. At the moment, it mainly goes to wealthy countries, but it will mainly go to poorer countries. The wealthy countries will therefore pay to the poorer countries, and we are a wealthy country, which is why we should pay our fair share. People like the hon. Gentleman, who say that they are in favour of enlargement but refuse to follow through on the consequences of that position, are not exercising leadership; they are abdicating leadership. The hon. Gentleman has said that he would have negotiated something different, but let us work out who his allies would be in such a new European Union.—[Interruption.] One of his first leadership decisions was to withdraw from the EPP, which contains the other Conservative parties in Europe, and this is what his own Members of the European Parliament have said about it. Mr. Struan Stevenson has said:"““We would have to sit round the table on a weekly basis with these fascists and nutters””—[Interruption.]"