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European Council: June 2006

My Lords, with permission, I would like to repeat a Statement made by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister. The Statement is as follows: ““With permission, Mr Speaker, I shall make a Statement about the European Council held in Brussels on 15 and 16 June. I would like to thank Chancellor Schuessel and the Austrian Government for their arrangements for the summit and for the way in which they conducted their presidency. ““There were two parts to this Council. On the constitutional treaty, it was agreed that there would have to be a further period of reflection, because at present there is no consensus on how to proceed. A Europe of 25, not 15, soon to become 27, and in time enlarged still further, needs a modern set of rules to function effectively. Around 15 states have ratified this treaty, but of course, there have been the No votes in France and Holland. As a result, others, including the United Kingdom, have not proceeded with ratification. The German presidency, in the first half of 2007, will therefore consult member states and present a report to the European Council. Decisions will then be taken by the end of 2008. But it was made crystal clear that, in line with last year’s conclusions, there can be no presumption about the outcome of this discussion. ““The bulk of the conclusions of the Council, however, deal with the specific issues of most immediate concern to Europe’s citizens. One of the key outcomes of a positive attitude towards Europe on the part of Britain was the election of President Barroso to the Commission. I welcome thoroughly his commitment to the Council to transmit direct to national Parliaments all new Commission proposals and consultation papers and to take due consideration of their views. This is an important boost to a long-held British concern over subsidiarity. ““In addition, on better regulation, the Commission has already announced the withdrawal of some 70 pieces of legislation. The European Council invited the Commission to report by early 2007 on further progress—and, in particular, asked the Commission to make proposals by that time on how to reduce administrative burdens on businesses by 25 per cent. This, again, is a central British objective, on which we built alliances with other partners. ““On the single market, the Council welcomed the agreement on the services directive; welcomed agreement on the competitiveness and innovation programme; and looked forward to the Commission’s forthcoming review of the single market and proposals for completing it. The services directive, in particular, is expected to deliver some 600,000 jobs across the EU and add around €31 billion to the EU economy. I pay tribute to the work of British MEPs from both the Party of European Socialists and the European People’s Party in securing the compromise necessary to allow it to pass. ““The Council agreed a number of specific measures and initiatives to combat illegal immigration, designed to strengthen borders while improving co-operation with some of the main source countries of migrants and refugees. In particular, the Council agreed to implement regional protection pilot projects to protect refugees in their region of origin and therefore avoid the need for mass migration. We also agreed to intensify work on readmission agreements, so that across Europe failed asylum seekers can be more easily returned. ““On energy, another of the Hampton Court initiatives, we welcomed and agreed to take forward proposals for an external energy policy, developed jointly by Javier Solana, the EU’s High Representative, and the Commission. One of the priorities will be developing strategic partnerships with the main producer and transit countries, including an agreement with Russia. ““The Council also agreed declarations on the western Balkans, Iran, Iraq, the Middle East peace process, Africa, Lebanon and Timor-Leste. ““Finally, on climate change, the European Council committed itself to pursuing, in all the relevant multilateral organisations, an international goal consistent with the objective of a maximum global temperature increase of two degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels. ““This was a European Council which focused on the practical policy-driven agenda which the UK has long advocated. It demonstrated yet again the benefits of positive engagement with Europe. I commend the outcome to the House””. That concludes the Statement.