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European Council

The House is united in its condemnation of the elections in Belarus, which were a travesty of democracy, in marked contrast to the experiences next door in Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary says that the matters being considered include travel bans, but exactly how watertight will they be, given the way in which people such as Mr. Mugabe have ignored or flouted similar efforts? We welcome the summit’s focus on research and development, universities, the gender pay gap and energy, but will the Foreign Secretary confirm that any future decisions on new nuclear power stations will remain a matter for the United Kingdom Government and not be passed off as somehow the responsibility of the European Union? Given the progress so far, how seriously does he take next year’s deadline on energy market liberalisation, bearing in mind the rash of protectionism on the continent and the failures to date? On Friday, the Foreign Secretary described the summit as workmanlike. Given the limited steps that were taken on energy, the watered-down services directive and the limited advances on the Lisbon agenda, was not the summit actually about missed opportunities, rather than any serious work in progress?