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EU Legislation (EUC Report)

My Lords, the danger is that we could engage in a debate which I think has been sufficiently aired already this morning. I know that the noble Lord looks at the small print of everything that emerges from Brussels, so he will be acquainted with the fact that a great deal of the work of the Commission is as a result of initiatives taken by others. The myth that the noble Lord and others wish to present is that the Commission is the sole driving force of law. That is not so; of course the Commission has a very important role to play in this area, but more than a third of its work is in response to scientific, economic and social data and another third relates to international obligations, in which it is responding to initiatives which are part and parcel of the modern world in which we live and a reflection of the European community to which we belong. Another fifth of the Commission’s initiatives is in response to direct requests from member states or other EU bodies such as the European Council or the European Parliament. I know that that will not do, but we all know the burden of the onslaught from certain Members from the other side. If the European Commission were transformed rather more into some aspect similar to the British Civil Service—which it is not—then they would set about describing how illegitimate the European Parliament was. That would be the next base for the argument that there cannot be institutions that are democratic in Europe. On these issues of principle, the Government do not agree, and nor, I think, do the vast majority of British people. Nor do I think it is relevant to bring these issues into a report which is careful and precise about what it wants to see done. Inevitably, the noble Lord, Lord Willoughby de Broke, referred to the Lisbon treaty. That is of some apparent concern in the light of the developments of the past few days. On Monday, noble Lords will have an opportunity to deploy that case again as there will be a Statement in the House resulting from the ministerial meeting. When the Lisbon treaty is ratified, it will give Europe’s citizens the right to propose ideas for legislation, compelling the Commission to consider legislative proposals if there is a large enough body of opinion behind them. A change is being effected to extend the democratic institutions of Europe. However, this report covers discrete and precise areas in which we could effect improvements. The Government very much welcome it and look upon the recommendations identified by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mance, in his speech and by other constructive contributors to this debate as ways in which we can improve the position. We certainly want to see the Commission act as transparently as possible, so we welcome its code and register of representatives and lobbyists, which were introduced in June this year. The noble Lord, Lord Wallace, referred to that. We look forward to the results of the Commission’s review of the register and code after its first year in operation. I have no doubt that transparency is of very great import for the Commission, and we are grateful that the point was identified in the report. Concerns were raised in the report about whether the common law system was sufficiently taken into account in developing legislation on justice and policing. This is always a challenge for us specifically in the United Kingdom because of the different legal basis between our own position and that which obtains in Europe. There are significant exchanges between the Commission and our lawyers to improve understanding of these issues. We paid host recently to the entire civil law unit of the Commission, which was here for a two-day working visit. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Mance, would have not have chaired the committee with the distinction that he did if he had not emphasised the importance of understanding on both sides the way in which we can improve legal contributions to the work of the Commission, and the particular dimension of common law nuances which are bound to play their part in the British interpretation of European law. We also consider that national Parliaments have a voice and a role to play. In September this year, the Commission published its 15th report on better law-making, reviewing the activity over 2007. It said that the House had sent the Commission 18 opinions on its new initiatives under its new system for communicating with national Parliaments. We made more submissions than any other Parliament except for the French Senate and the German Bundesrat. We are active in meeting the challenge, to which the noble Lord, Lord Astor, referred, between the obvious discontinuance in the British approach to political decision-taking and the role of the Commission and of European law. That will always be a challenge; we recognised it from the very first days of joining the European Community. I can reassure the House that the noble and learned Lord’s plea in his report that constant work should be addressed to these issues is being continued by the Government. We also appreciate the fact that the right level of regulation is important for Europe’s credibility and competitiveness. Europe has an increasing role to play in tackling the big challenges of climate change. Although I hear criticism from time to time about the intrusion of Europe upon certain aspects of our way of life, I hope that even the noble Lords, Lord Willoughby de Broke and Lord Pearson, might think that on climate change, international co-operative action is the only conceivable way in which we will see the crisis situation resolved to safeguard the interests of all mankind. In those circumstances, the European institutions have a role to play. We have been concerned that the Commission should show a real commitment to improving the quality of regulation. That is why the Commission is now involved in considerably more impact assessments—300 impact assessments have been completed since 2003. Its own Impact Assessment Board, which screens impact assessments for quality, has rejected some of them for being below par. It is critical of the work that has been done and we have no doubt that that is an important element in ensuring that European legislation proves to be successful. None of us in this House regards the institutions of Europe as working as well as we would hope but none of in this House thinks that British institutions work as well as we would hope. That is why in a democracy there is a constant ferment of new ideas and pressure for progress, and the European institutions fit into that pattern. There is a great deal of work to be done. The Commission’s recent legislative and work programme for 2009 sets out to simplify Europe's regulatory environment and it will certainly be a key priority in this. We will ensure that that work gets high priority. We will continue to press the Commission to do more in this area and to do it faster. This has been an extremely constructive debate aided by the fact that all noble Lords who contributed—with the exception of a dissonant voice, which is bound to be expressed on principle against Europe and all its works—supported the chairmanship of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mance, and the work of committee in terms of the constructive ways in which we need to improve the work of the Commission and European institutions. I congratulate the noble and learned Lord on his report. The whole House owes him and the committee a debt of gratitude.