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European Union (Accessions) Bill

I rise briefly to support the Bill. It is great to see Romania and Bulgaria, after their history during the last 50 years of the previous century as part of the Soviet empire, now wishing to join the European Union as independent, democratic states. That is welcome. However, the 10 countries that acceded to the European Union in 2005 are becoming increasingly competitive with the United Kingdom for new jobs and investment. Some of their advantages vary: for example, competition from eastern Europe is caused by the fact that there are lower wage rates than in the United Kingdom. Secondly, there are varying corporation taxes for company profits and I wonder whether that is an additional advantage for Romania and Bulgaria over the United Kingdom in gaining new investment for the creation of new jobs in competition with the United Kingdom. If we take Romania, for example, at the moment there is major investment in industry in anticipation of its membership of the European Union, for example, in the expansion of the motor car industry. Will the United Kingdom be at a disadvantage in competition with Romania and Bulgaria as far as wage rates are concerned? There are major variations in corporation tax across the European Union. Some of our new competitors in the east are able to say that their corporation taxes are very small compared with those in the United Kingdom. Can the Minister tell us what rates of corporation tax exist in Bulgaria and Romania compared to ours in the United Kingdom. Will they, once again, have an advantage over us? Finally, when the 10 countries acceded to the European Union in 2005, the United Kingdom was courageous, and the Government must be congratulated, because the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, I think, Sweden—it was certainly one of the Scandinavian countries—were the only countries that agreed to the free movement of people within the European Union. Other countries went slow on that issue. What will be the position when Romania and Bulgaria accede to membership of the European Union? Will the United Kingdom yet again agree to the free movement of people between those two countries and our country?