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EU Trade Policy: EUC Report

My Lords, I declare the interests set out in my entry in the Register. I warmly echo the words of many speakers in paying tribute to what the noble Lord, Lord Roper, called an excellent report. It was extremely detailed and intelligent, and this debate has been a welcome opportunity to discuss its contents. Each and every speech has underlined the importance of the issue. I have to say to the noble Lord, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard—with whom I had the honour to work when he was ambassador and UK permanent representative to the EC/EU in Brussels throughout the five years that I was in the Cabinet, between 1990 and 1995—that he is not at his best when he embraces sarcasm and levity, but I join him in his tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton of Upholland, in her appointment. While the development of EU trade and EU participation in worldwide trade is fundamental to our economic growth, in order to unleash full economic potential, we must ensure that every nation can benefit and fairly compete in the world market. For some 50 years, trade has been getting more liberal and much of the world has been getting richer. Global trade has helped lift entire nations out of poverty. Free trade is a progressive and powerful tool for social justice and offers the most sustainable path out of poverty for those in the developing world. That has been the key message of this debate, and I commend all those who have participated. We must recognise, as I think we all do, the critically important role that the WTO plays in this area, ensuring that free trade is also fair trade, as the noble Lord, Lord Haskins, pointed out. We have to ensure that the WTO has the authority, support and status that it requires to carry out effectively its most vital role of insisting on fair trade and monitoring protectionist attitudes of nations. I know that the First Secretary of State will say, "Where are the Conservative policies?", as he did the last time we exchanged views across this Chamber. I refer him to our excellent document, One World Conservatism, which stresses that a deal at the WTO would be an important firewall against backsliding in the face of protectionist pressures. Yet the talks remain deadlocked. Politicians and negotiators seem to trade insults instead of letting their people trade with each other. As long as that deadlock continues, the entire world trade architecture is in danger of losing credibility. That would be a tragedy for the world and particularly for the poor. I think that the WTO is a boon for poor countries. Even the smallest country has a veto on any deal and, as the excellent speech by my noble friend Lord Trimble pointed out, it makes argument more difficult but it represents the best way forward. We on these Benches strongly believe that the utmost priority must be given to strengthening the status of the WTO with the intention of reigniting negotiations and reaching a successful conclusion to the Doha development round. Of course, as the noble Baroness, Lady Cohen of Pimlico, pointed out, the Doha negotiations had previously broken down. I think her words were "They did not succeed". We would like to know from the First Secretary of State what hope he holds of having a successful Doha round in the future and what actions Ministers are taking to help to improve the chances of success. The noble Lord, Lord Haskins, said that it had all come to a shuddering halt. We now need to hear from the First Secretary of State what he intends to do in response. In their response to that report, the Government have said that they agree that trade liberalisation remains important for economic growth and development both for the UK and for developing countries and that they will continue to press through the EU for that to be a priority. Will the First Secretary of State tell us exactly what measures the Government will use to ensure that? All speakers have agreed that retreating into a state of protectionism would have hugely negative effects on the recovery from recession. As the noble Lord, Lord Woolmer of Leeds, pointed out, fortunately very few trade restrictions have occurred but there is always that danger. The ultimate goal has to be the comprehensive dismantling of trade barriers at a pace which allows British producers and those in the developing world to adapt to a truly open market. I reiterate that free trade must also be fair trade. Without going too much into the history of what happened in 2005, it was sad that the Government balked at tackling the vested interests of some of the nations. Consequently, we made only nugatory progress on agriculture, far short of what is urgently required. The majority of the world's poorest people live in rural areas. It is said that global income could increase by almost $300,000 million within five or six years if trade-distorting policies in the merchandise trade could be eliminated. Half of that would come from the eradication of agricultural protectionism in rich countries. That sort of reform could lift between 50 million and 100 million people out of poverty. The Government have said that they will continue to press for further reform of the common agricultural policy. What new approaches are they going to take? What assurances can the First Secretary of State give us now that opportunities will not be wasted again? Can he explain what action is being taken to push for such reform? Are Ministers also engaged actively in talks with other rich nations outside the EU to try to persuade them to liberate their policies too? One step which the UK could push for would be an immediate end to all production-related support under the CAP to bring the rest of the EU into line with England, which has fully decoupled. Can the First Secretary of State tell the House whether this action is likely to be taken? Can he also give an insight into what he feels are the opinions and policies that likely to be espoused by the new EU Agriculture Commissioner-designate, and in particular whether the Government support that appointment and look forward to working with the new Commissioner, and what will be on the agenda of their first meeting with him? I commend all those who have participated in this debate and particularly the various points raised at various stages, which I think were exceedingly helpful. This has been a short but intense debate. I hope no one thinks that I am exaggerating when I say that I think that this debate has been the House at its best. Both the evident expertise on display and the generally co-operative and positive atmosphere have done all noble Lords who have participated great credit. There is a natural human instinct, when times are hard and the future is uncertain, to pull up the drawbridge; as several speakers have reminded us, this has happened in the past. I suppose that there has always been a tendency in the Democratic Party in the United States to do precisely that. One great president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, courageously overcame that instinct at a time of global crisis. We must all now hope that his most recent successor, Barack Obama, will prove himself to be a great leader, too, by following the same path. For our part, we must ensure that the EU rises to the challenge of these troubled times by reasserting its belief in free and fair trade. Although I occasionally criticise the policies of the First Secretary of State—I think he understands why I do—I just want to commend him for the skill, expertise and effort he showed when he was the Commissioner for Trade. I think that all noble Lords who participated in this debate want to put that on the record. Consequently, however, an even greater challenge now faces the First Secretary of State. What is he going to do to follow up this report? The report points the way. Are the Government going to follow? What steps will the Secretary of State take in the right direction?