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European Council

Let me deal with each point in turn. First, I should point out that when the right hon. Gentleman quoted from the draft mandate for the IGC from the German presidency, he missed out the succeeding sentence, which is:"““The constitutional concept, which consisted in repealing all existing Treaties and replacing them with a single text called ‘Constitution’ is abandoned.””" Let me go through the 49 articles that create QMV. Thirteen of them do not apply to the UK because they are about the eurozone or judicial and home affairs, which we have opted out of. Six involve issues such as allowing a group of citizens to propose initiatives; the negotiation of a withdrawal agreement—I should have thought that the Opposition would want QMV on that; two relate to ending special state aid provisions for Germany post-reunification and to diplomatic and consular protection measures, which are not about the service, but about protection. Nine are minor and technical, including such extraordinary matters as the Council review of general rules on the composition of the Committee of the Regions, and the Comitology Committee, whatever that might be. Nine of them relate simply to new legal bases, but powers already exist. There are nine articles of genuine substance on matters such as the implementation of own resources decisions, which it is in Britain’s interests to have QMV on, because it allows us to ensure that countries cannot block that; on the authorisation, co-ordination and supervision of intellectual property rights protection, which, again, it is absolutely in Britain’s interests to have; and on matters such as urgent aid to third countries and humanitarian aid operations. The idea that this involves some vast transfer of powers from the UK to Brussels is completely and utterly absurd. But do not take my word for it, take the word of the right hon. and learned Gentleman who heads up the Opposition’s constitutional committee.