Parliamentary Search

Proceeding contribution from Mike Gapes (Labour) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 9 December 2008. It occurred during Debate on European Affairs.

European Affairs

Unfortunately for the hon. Gentleman and all of us who want to see simple solutions to such matters, EU enlargement cannot take place without the agreement of all member states, which is how it has always been. Regardless of how unreasonably or intransigently a country takes a particular view in blocking the membership of another country, that membership will not happen. Similarly, if one EU member state were to decide to block Turkey's membership for ever, Turkey's membership would not happen. That is the reality. The hon. Gentleman is younger than me, so perhaps he was not born at the time, but he knows that General de Gaulle—there is a cartoon about this in Portcullis House—vetoed British membership in the 1960s, so there is a precedent.

Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
485 c437 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Armed conflict Banks Coal Climate change Competition Development aid Cyprus Carbon capture and storage Africa EU countries Finance Human rights Energy EU enlargement European Union Industry EU internal trade International cooperation Fiscal policy Government assistance Economic situation Germany EU external trade Economic and monetary union EU economic policy EU emissions trading scheme National security Motor vehicles Public expenditure Peacekeeping operations Politics and government Piracy Poland Overseas trade Standards Terrorism Rule of law Balkans Russia Israel Turkey Kosovo Common agricultural policy Foreign investment in UK Zimbabwe Middle East Bosnia and Herzegovina EU external relations EU aid EU defence policy Georgia Somalia Treaty of Lisbon Kurds South Ossetia Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk