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Adjournment debate on Wednesday, 6 December 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Baroness Beckett. The answering member was Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.

European Affairs

Debate on a motion for the adjournment on the meeting of the European Council on 14 and 15 December.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
454 c335-411 
Session
2006-07
Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 454 c349 (Link to this contribution) Order. I apologise to the right hon. Gentleman, but I should at this point announce to the House tha...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c337 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that those problems are surmountable, but I will not disguise from my right hon. Friend or...
Show all contributions (173)
Keith Vaz | 454 c336-7 (Link to this contribution) On enlargement, the Government’s position remains one of firm support for Turkey’s entry to the EU. ...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c337 (Link to this contribution) I am aware from my former membership of the Agriculture Council that there are such problems from ti...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c337 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary mentioned the new eastern European states that have joined the EU. She will be...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c338 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I reject the notion that the countries that have joined have become less democratic...
William Cash | 454 c338 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary referred to the free nations. She will be aware that further integration has u...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c336 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
Baroness Beckett | 454 c336 (Link to this contribution) No. Next week’s agenda will be a full one, but one topic is likely to dominate the discussion: enlar...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c336 (Link to this contribution) I never cease to be astonished by Conservative Members’ cheek in raising that issue. We never gave u...
Marquess of Lothian | 454 c335-6 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary take the opportunity of the Council to reassert what was admitted at the ...
Angus Robertson | 454 c335 (Link to this contribution) I welcome debates on European business on the Floor of the House, but may I raise an issue that I ha...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c335 (Link to this contribution) I shall get a little further with my speech before I give way, if I may. We expect that a significan...
Lord Redwood | 454 c336 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give a promise to the House that she will not offer up the sacrifice of t...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c336 (Link to this contribution) Let us be quite clear, in case anyone should misunderstand: of course, there is one Parliament, but ...
Tobias Ellwood | 454 c336 (Link to this contribution) Will the subject of the two European Parliaments be on the agenda? Many Opposition Members think tha...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c336 (Link to this contribution) To be honest, I very much doubt that the subject of the constitutional treaty will be raised, becaus...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 454 c341 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary for giving way. Some people believe that the outcome of the s...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c341 (Link to this contribution) Although the hon. Gentleman is right to identify some of the problems that Malta is facing, those pr...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c341 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way for the final time, then I must make progress.
Baroness Beckett | 454 c340 (Link to this contribution) I am sure a great deal of thinking is going on in many member states. The difficulty is that it does...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 454 c340 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is right that we must find a way of bringing the former states of Yugoslavia in...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c339-40 (Link to this contribution) Not in the very near future. It is legitimate for my hon. Friend to poke fun at that publication, bu...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c338-9 (Link to this contribution) First, the Government did not make a prediction. [Interruption.] No, the Government did not make a p...
Mark Pritchard | 454 c338 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary predict how many people will come from Romania and Bulgaria following the...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c335 (Link to this contribution) This month, the European Council will be held on 14 and 15 December, and the formal agenda will, as ...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c409 (Link to this contribution) I may regret it, but I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman.
William Cash | 454 c410 (Link to this contribution) I have battled with the Minister on the subject since 1990 or earlier, but it is quite amazing to he...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c410 (Link to this contribution) The difference between our respective positions is that I have consistently supported the European U...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 454 c410 (Link to this contribution) The Minister criticises Her Majesty’s official Opposition for not having a policy, but we have a ver...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c410 (Link to this contribution) The Government have a very clear policy on the European constitution and I have set out in a written...
Ian Davidson | 454 c410 (Link to this contribution) Is it correct to summarise the Government’s position by saying that whatever comes out of Europe, th...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c410-1 (Link to this contribution) On one’s birthday one can reflect on such things, and the hon. Member for Stone has consistently tak...
Andrew Mackinlay | 454 c402 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. If Turkey joined the EU, its borders with those friendly states would be our borders, too. I...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c409 (Link to this contribution) I was speaking more about references to Britain needing a different relationship with the European U...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c408-9 (Link to this contribution) The point that the hon. Gentleman misses about his approach is that in any international organisatio...
Charles Walker | 454 c409 (Link to this contribution) For the sake of clarity, I should point out that the Minister misunderstood me. If anything comes fo...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c406-8 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by expressing my appreciation to the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) for hi...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c408 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the Minister on his birthday, and I hope that he enjoys the rest of the even...
Andrew Mackinlay | 454 c403 (Link to this contribution) Actually, I know where Malta is as I sometimes look at maps. What the hon. Gentleman says is demonst...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 454 c403-6 (Link to this contribution) It has been an excellent debate, in which we have heard 13 speeches. The hon. Member for Thurrock (A...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c384-5 (Link to this contribution) I beg hon. Members’ pardon. My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley is a great man who shows great co...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c385-6 (Link to this contribution) Yes, it is an absolute disgrace. We need a more effective energy policy across the European Union. ...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c386 (Link to this contribution) I have listened with interest to the hon. Gentleman’s arguments. Having recently visited Georgia, fo...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c386 (Link to this contribution) At no stage—I notice that there is a Whip present—did I advocate withdrawal from the European Union....
Tobias Ellwood | 454 c386 (Link to this contribution) I was pleased to hear my hon. Friend’s last comments. May I press him on the point about gas and the...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c386 (Link to this contribution) I totally agree with my hon. Friend. Britain will be a major gas importer in future years, so the Go...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c386 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman read last Sunday’s edition of The Independent on Sunday, bu...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c386 (Link to this contribution) I am not here to speculate. I only wanted to record in Hansard that the Secretary of State for North...
Speaker | 454 c386 (Link to this contribution) Order. Perhaps I can suggest that the hon. Gentleman gets back to the debate on European affairs.
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c387 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. The Maltese MPs made the point that they were somewhat disappointed tha...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c387 (Link to this contribution) Before my hon. Friend moves on from Malta, does he agree that Britain has a particular role to play ...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c386-7 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I shall do so immediately. The European Union’s priority sho...
Charles Walker | 454 c388-9 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for calling me to speak so early on in the debate, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Hon. Members: ““...
Jeremy Browne | 454 c389 (Link to this contribution) I have done some research on the subject. In 1980, EU nations produced 26 per cent. of global output...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c387-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I have spoken about Belarus on many occasions. The west played a huge part in...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c392 (Link to this contribution) The basic flaw in the hon. Gentleman’s argument is that there are more people in employment in this ...
Charles Walker | 454 c389-91 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, as it is about time that Europe stopped looking inward....
Mark Pritchard | 454 c391-2 (Link to this contribution) Having taken part in several European debates since I was elected to this House, I think that this h...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c393 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend and fellow Shropshire Member for giving way. Does he agree that Turk...
Mark Pritchard | 454 c392-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for trying to realign my comments, but I do not accept that. The population has...
Douglas Carswell | 454 c395-6 (Link to this contribution) In the words of the French Institute for International Affairs, the EU faces,"““a slow movement onto...
Mark Pritchard | 454 c393-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, as ever, and I entirely agree with him. It is not just the ...
Tobias Ellwood | 454 c397-8 (Link to this contribution) I had not planned to participate in the debate, but I have been encouraged to do so by the excellent...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c398 (Link to this contribution) I hate to give the hon. Gentleman a couple of history lessons, but I am forced to do so. First, he m...
Charles Walker | 454 c396 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that although the European Union talks about fair trade, its actions are t...
Douglas Carswell | 454 c396 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. I think that the European Union is one of the biggest obstacles not just to free trade b...
William Cash | 454 c396 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may be about to deal with this point, but does he agree that one of the essential ing...
Douglas Carswell | 454 c396-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. An important fiat for closer integration is the judicial fiat of...
Andrew Mackinlay | 454 c400 (Link to this contribution) I see that I have rattled a few cages. I give way first to the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Prit...
Andrew Mackinlay | 454 c399-400 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister for Europe, my right hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon), ever forms a Go...
Andrew Mackinlay | 454 c401-2 (Link to this contribution) I would not put the matter in quite those terms, but I broadly agree with my right hon. Friend. I do...
Andrew Mackinlay | 454 c400 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would not have given way to the hon. Member for The Wrekin if I h...
Keith Vaz | 454 c400-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. He has spoken with passion on this issue for the past 15 year...
Mark Pritchard | 454 c400 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. Will he express the same passion to the Minister in respe...
Speaker | 454 c400 (Link to this contribution) Order. That goes a little wide of the motion.
Keith Vaz | 454 c348 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way a second time. He is right to raise the Lisbon ag...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c348 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is right that that is one problem that we face. However, the other is the d...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c348 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c349 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. I am coming to the end of my speech. Next week’s summit is an opportunity for the P...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c345-6 (Link to this contribution) My central heating boiler has just broken down, so I will happily join the right hon. Gentleman in w...
Keith Vaz | 454 c345 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the shadow Minister for Europe. The hon. Gentleman re-emphasises that the Con...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c347 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. That is why I am delighted to have the hon. Gentleman’s support for our proposition that...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c346 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that one of the defining characteristics of a democratic, independent ...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c347-8 (Link to this contribution) I am aware of the concern caused in the Baltic states, including Poland, by that decision. It shows ...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c347 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend intimates that there should be closer co-operation in the EU on energy. Countries in ...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c344-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes his point. I think that they are getting on a little better today—almost as wel...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c344 (Link to this contribution) I will, although I am giving way a lot and should make more progress.
Graham Stuart | 454 c344 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is a great negotiator and someone who can bring peace to troubled relationships. For ...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c345 (Link to this contribution) I happily give way to the former Minister for Europe.
Ian Davidson | 454 c343 (Link to this contribution) May I urge the hon. Gentleman not to read too much into statements made by the Minister for Europe w...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c344 (Link to this contribution) I do. Were that to be advocated by the Government, it should be allowed only with the support of the...
William Cash | 454 c344 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend recall that Mr. Sarkozy, in his speech in September, advocated not only the crea...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c343 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I am confident that the Minister for Europe is a man, not a mou...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c343 (Link to this contribution) The Minister shakes his head. However, given that the Foreign Secretary has confirmed to me in a wri...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c342 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will not have to wait very long. As all this important discussion and debate about th...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 454 c342 (Link to this contribution) I agree that this is a critical time for the EU. Can the hon. Gentleman tell me when the leader of h...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c342-3 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes an important point. That is a good illustration of how the European Union...
Lord Redwood | 454 c342 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the emissions trading scheme in the EU has been grossly abused by som...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c341-2 (Link to this contribution) The Government have always opposed the notion that the break-up of Iraq would be in the interests of...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c342 (Link to this contribution) We join the Foreign Secretary in her comments about the importance of enlargement and in hoping for ...
Doug Henderson | 454 c361 (Link to this contribution) I may not agree with everything that my hon. Friend says about European issues, but I agree with him...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 454 c361 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has obviously thought about aviation sector emissions. Does he agree that if we a...
Doug Henderson | 454 c361-2 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept the hon. Gentleman’s point. Transport experts need to look into the problem. A diplom...
William Cash | 454 c362-4 (Link to this contribution) As we approach the 50th anniversary of the treaty of Rome, I would like to take the opportunity of a...
Doug Henderson | 454 c358-60 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Mr. Moore). In so...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c364 (Link to this contribution) I very strongly support the hon. Gentleman’s emphasis on democracy. In reality, is not one of the re...
Speaker | 454 c366 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman has had his 15 minutes.
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 454 c366 (Link to this contribution) This is one of those many occasions on which I follow the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash). I did no...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c372-3 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for being unable to be here for some of the early part of the debate. It is a great ple...
William Cash | 454 c373 (Link to this contribution) Much as I admire the hon. Gentleman, I have to say that what he is saying is not exactly accurate. L...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 454 c370 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned next year’s elections in Turkey. Does he think that it would be deeply regr...
Lord Risby | 454 c370-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Turkey is a secular nation. For all its human rights and relig...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 454 c366-8 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree that that is the danger. One of the features of these debates is that they are v...
Lord Risby | 454 c368-70 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart), who made a t...
Lord Horam | 454 c366 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is absolutely right about energy. Is there not a considerable danger that Russia will ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c374-5 (Link to this contribution) I note the hon. Gentleman’s comment from a sedentary position. Nevertheless, the economy has done we...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c373-4 (Link to this contribution) There are sceptical voices across the Chamber, and some of us are seeking reassurance. There have be...
William Cash | 454 c374 (Link to this contribution) I said that being in it would be over his dead body.
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 454 c375 (Link to this contribution) The problem with the eurozone is not just its inability to set its own interest rates, but the fact ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c375-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. McDougal’s report about 30 years ago pointed out that without th...
Adam Afriyie | 454 c376-8 (Link to this contribution) I welcomed much of what was said by the hon. Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins). It is a grea...
Mark Pritchard | 454 c378 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that many years ago Europe did indeed have a single language—Latin—a single ...
Adam Afriyie | 454 c378;454 c378-9 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. My Latin is a little rusty, but I do recall the Roman ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c379 (Link to this contribution) Would it not be simpler just to recommend the abolition of both the CAP and the common fisheries pol...
Adam Afriyie | 454 c379 (Link to this contribution) I shall certainly consider the hon. Gentleman’s comments very carefully, but I was not necessarily p...
Philip Davies | 454 c379-81 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie), who made a typicall...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c381 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a strong point; in fact, as we have a big trade deficit with Europe, they n...
Philip Davies | 454 c382 (Link to this contribution) Of course, I support my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition in his quest to take us out o...
Geoffrey Hoon | 454 c382 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman like to give one example of one piece of European regulation that is crippl...
Philip Davies | 454 c381-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right and I shall deal with that point in a few moments. When we e...
Jeremy Browne | 454 c382 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman’s speech with great interest. What is his view on the transitio...
Philip Davies | 454 c383-4 (Link to this contribution) I am sure you would agree with me if you did join in the debate, Madam Deputy Speaker. Member state...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c384 (Link to this contribution) I must say how much I enjoyed the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies). T...
Philip Davies | 454 c382-3 (Link to this contribution) If the Minister will be patient, I will explain the problem of EU regulation. Indeed, I come to the ...
Speaker | 454 c383 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I remind the hon. Gentleman not to bring the occupant of the Chair into his debating poin...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c350 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman cannot be serious. Given that the Foreign Secretary has made...
Keith Vaz | 454 c349-50 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will have a great time there. I find it fascinating, as I a...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 454 c351 (Link to this contribution) May I put forward another argument concerning Romania and Bulgaria? By definition, the people who le...
Keith Vaz | 454 c350-1 (Link to this contribution) Of course it would have. If such a referendum had gone against the admission of those countries, the...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c351 (Link to this contribution) Following the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart), with wh...
Keith Vaz | 454 c351 (Link to this contribution) I have great respect for my hon. Friend’s knowledge of these subjects, and for all the work that she...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 454 c349 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for allowing me to put on record that my right hon. Friend...
Keith Vaz | 454 c349 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I do not know whether I can count that as an intervention on my speec...
Doug Henderson | 454 c357 (Link to this contribution) It sounds a bit like the hon. Gentleman is adopting a moral position on this issue. There is no extr...
Michael Moore | 454 c355-7 (Link to this contribution) That was an unfortunate and cynical calculation. Perhaps similar thoughts have crossed politicians’ ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c354 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentioned Finland. Some years ago I asked a Finnish journalist why Finland did no...
Michael Moore | 454 c353-4 (Link to this contribution) I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests. This debate ha...
Michael Moore | 454 c357-8 (Link to this contribution) Let me reassure the hon. Gentleman that I was seeking to make neither a moral nor an institutional o...
Keith Vaz | 454 c351 (Link to this contribution) I understand where my hon. Friend is coming from, but I do not agree with him. Some people will rema...
Keith Vaz | 454 c353 (Link to this contribution) We are in such a strong position, as we have heard from the Chancellor today, because of the polices...
William Cash | 454 c353 (Link to this contribution) Surely the right hon. Gentleman must take account of the fact that the Labour party in opposition wa...
Keith Vaz | 454 c351-3 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not, as I have given way a lot on that point. My second point is on institutional reform...
Ian Davidson | 454 c351 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Tobias Ellwood | 454 c398-9 (Link to this contribution) On the right hon. Gentleman’s first comment, he makes my point for me: the organisation was a tradin...
Daniel Kawczynski | 454 c341 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary. She mentioned illegal immigration. Many Maltese MPs have spo...
Kelvin Hopkins | 454 c360 (Link to this contribution) I strongly agree with my hon. Friend about the need to build a Europe-wide rail network. That is hap...
William Cash | 454 c364-6 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with the hon. Gentleman. It would be difficult to say that this is not a party pol...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c337 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman, as it would not be right to have the debate without an inter...
Baroness Beckett | 454 c335 (Link to this contribution) I have some sympathy with the hon. Gentleman, because it is unfortunate when such situations occur, ...
Ian Davidson | 454 c339 (Link to this contribution) As someone who has always supported the principle of enlargement, may I seek clarification of the re...
Adam Afriyie | 454 c378 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps English would be the sensible choice as the language of the EU. Perhaps it is also time ser...
William Cash | 454 c402-3 (Link to this contribution) One of the reasons why those immigrants are going to Malta is that the country is in the EU, so it i...
Subjects
Climate change Carbon dioxide Immigration Environment protection EU accession EU enlargement European Constitution Treaty EU common foreign and security policy EU economic policy EU justice and home affairs Pollution control Migration NATO Russia Turkey European Council EU defence policy
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