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Judiciary and Fundamental Rights

That may well be the case, but I see no reason why we could not have negotiated a free trade deal with Croatia many years ago. Indeed, the question could have been asked of the previous Labour Government: if Croatia has so much trade with this country, why did we not negotiate a free trade deal with it a long time ago? Let me quote what the Prime Minister said about getting something back from accession treaties. In a speech helpfully entitled ““A Europe policy that people can believe in””, which he made a little over two years ago, on 4 November 2009, when he was the Leader of the Opposition, he said that"““we will want to negotiate the return of Britain's opt-out from social and employment legislation in those areas which have proved most damaging to our economy and public service…We will want a complete opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.””" He added that an agreement would be negotiated"““limiting the European Court of Justice's jurisdiction over criminal law to its pre-Lisbon level, and ensuring that only British authorities can initiate criminal investigations in Britain.””" Crucially, he made it clear that"““we will propose that these British guarantees are added as protocols to a future accession treaty,””" which is exactly what we are discussing this evening. I know that our negotiating team will have been well aware of those crystal-clear commitments. In closing, may I ask my right hon. Friend the Minister to confirm that those guarantees were proposed and to say what the response was? If they were not proposed, why not? If they were proposed and the response was—let me say—not entirely positive, did we indicate that we would withhold our veto if our polite proposals were not granted? After all, article 49 of the Lisbon treaty—which was the reason why that speech was given in the first place—which deals with accession treaties, specifically states that accession treaties deal with"““conditions of admission and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the Union is founded which such admission entails.””" It should be argued therefore that the granting of these British guarantees is something that the admission of Croatia entails: without them, the accession could not take place, because Britain would use its veto.