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European Affairs

Well, what a revelation! I am glad that the right hon. Gentleman concedes the point. When he was Minister for Europe, he said:"““It may help the Committee””—" that is, the Standing Committee—"““to know that, when I discussed the matter with my French opposite number, she thought that the so-called passerelle clause would need amendment before it would be acceptable to France.””—[Official Report, Standing Committee on the Intergovernmental Conference, 20 October 2003; c. 20.]" That was the right hon. Gentleman, rather than Thatcherites of the 1980s, stating his opposition. If he would like to intervene in an equally helpful way at any other point in my speech, he is most welcome to do so. The ability to abolish further national vetoes without a new treaty—something that he himself opposed—is now there in black and white.