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European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, I should like to support this amendment—I am just as entitled to make a contribution as anybody from the Cross Benches. I believe that the amendment is both necessary and timely. It is a very modest amendment. All it seeks to do is to ensure that this Parliament is given a report once a year about what is happening on the European stage in relation to foreign affairs and security. I cannot understand why the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, would oppose such an amendment. It seems to me that everyone who cares about Parliament, its powers and its influence, should be in favour of the amendment. The amendment is also timely. I looked at euobserver.com this morning and found that the European Parliament is discussing this very matter and how it should be involved. So why should we not discuss it in this Parliament before the Bill goes through? I quote from the report of that meeting: "““The European Parliament is seeking to bolster its role in the bloc’s common foreign and security policy … with senior MEPs saying it is time for Europe to become a ‘player and not just a payer’ on the world stage””." It goes on: "““Polish centre-right MEP and head of the foreign affairs committee, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, says that EU foreign policy is moving ‘from one era to another’ with the new Lisbon Treaty, due to kick in next year””." The article continues: "““The fact that Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, will for the first time be present at the MEPS’ annual debate on CFSP on Wednesday (4 June) is in itself a ‘turning point’, said the Pole at a briefing on Tuesday.""Euro-deputies will today debate a report that sets out principles for the EU’s foreign policy—such as respect for human rights—calls for certain issues to be prioritised and says that the CFSP budget from now until 2013 is ‘insufficient’””." They are having a good discussion about it. The article goes on: "““‘Either we have to beef up foreign policy financially, or we have to rethink whether we really want to be a global player’, said Mr Saryusz-Wolski, who next week will travel to Paris””."