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European Council: June 2006

My Lords, I thank the Leader of the House for the Statement. I was struck not so much by the contrast between the statements by the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, and the noble Lord, Lord McNally, but the contrast between the statements by the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, and the opposition spokesman for foreign policy in another place, who made an interesting speech last week of a somewhat different tone. I have a couple of questions about the conclusions on enlargement. I noticed that there were three references in the conclusions on enlargement to a concept called ““absorptive capacity””, rather as if we were branding a form of blotting paper. I gather that was not the intention; the intention was no doubt to construct a large elephant trap into which the luckless applicants for membership would fall. Could I please have from the Government some recognition of the risks of the policy of absorptive capacity? Could they state very firmly—which I believe to be the case—that there has been no addition of a further criterion to the Copenhagen criteria which candidate countries have to fulfil, and that there is no question of some formal requirement being added to those relating to this ghastly blotting paper concept? Secondly, on the point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Anderson, I think that there was a reference to Cypriot vessels going into Turkish ports, but it was written in that usual Euro-jargon that makes it extremely difficult to follow. It insisted that the Turkish Government should respond to the requests that were made last year by the European Union. Did the noble Baroness notice, and will she say something about, another commitment in relation to Cyprus that was not referred to—the commitment to bring north Cyprus closer to the European Union not only in terms of aid but also trade? The Turkish Government have linked those two issues, which is unwise because they are a little bit apples and oranges; one is a strict legal obligation that they must fulfil and the other is a political obligation that the European Union has to fill. Frankly, it sends a very bad message if it is not clear that we are as concerned by the second as we are by the first.