To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises of the recent decision of the European Court of Justice in Fag og Arbejde (FOA) v Kommunernes Landsforening (KL).

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises of the recent decision of the European Court of Justice in Fag og Arbejde (FOA) v Kommunernes Landsforening (KL).

My Lords, I want to follow the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, in reference to competition. Is not this Council statement just a rehash of the European agenda, which was such a notable failure? Does the Minister agree that, as usual, it is all words and no...

My Lords, I want to follow the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, in reference to competition. Is not this Council statement just a rehash of the European agenda, which was such a notable failure? Does the Minister agree that, as usual, it is all words and no...

My Lords—

My Lords—

Yes, of course.

Yes, of course.

My Lords, under the elections and referendums Act, surely the public would be entitled to form their own opinion on that, and the Government would be obliged to give people the information that they require. That is why they would be fully informed about the issues, whether they were pro...

My Lords, under the elections and referendums Act, surely the public would be entitled to form their own opinion on that, and the Government would be obliged to give people the information that they require. That is why they would be fully informed about the issues, whether they were pro...

I support my noble friend Lord Pearson. I do not think that the strictures from the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, are correct. This is an EU force, which, as my noble friend said, is training in Vicenza. It is not a civil, nice, friendly bobby police force, but riot police....

I support my noble friend Lord Pearson. I do not think that the strictures from the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, are correct. This is an EU force, which, as my noble friend said, is training in Vicenza. It is not a civil, nice, friendly bobby police force, but riot police....

The noble Lord is right and after this debate I will give him a photograph of the EGF, if he would like that, and he will see that it is booted. I support my noble friend’s amendment and I look forward to hearing from the Government Front Bench.

The noble Lord is right and after this debate I will give him a photograph of the EGF, if he would like that, and he will see that it is booted. I support my noble friend’s amendment and I look forward to hearing from the Government Front Bench.

It provides an opportunity to probe what we are going to do about the continual misapplication of funds in the European Union. Surely that is worth debating in this Chamber, particularly when the Court of Auditors is mentioned in some detail in the Lisbon treaty.

It provides an opportunity to probe what we are going to do about the continual misapplication of funds in the European Union. Surely that is worth debating in this Chamber, particularly when the Court of Auditors is mentioned in some detail in the Lisbon treaty.

I am sorry—

I am sorry—

I agree that this was not mentioned in the report but the noble Lord’s noble friend Lord Tomlinson suggested that the Court of Auditors could be improved by not having a member from each of the 27 member states. That may be an improvement, but I also have a question...

I agree that this was not mentioned in the report but the noble Lord’s noble friend Lord Tomlinson suggested that the Court of Auditors could be improved by not having a member from each of the 27 member states. That may be an improvement, but I also have a question...

moved Amendment No. 79: 79: Clause 2, page 1, line 12, after ““excluding”” insert— ““(i) Article 2, paragraph 230, amending Article 246 TEC (TFEU), relating to the Court of Auditors, and (ii) ”” The noble Lord said: This group of amendments is probing in nature. It tries to tease out...

moved Amendment No. 79: 79: Clause 2, page 1, line 12, after ““excluding”” insert— ““(i) Article 2, paragraph 230, amending Article 246 TEC (TFEU), relating to the Court of Auditors, and (ii) ”” The noble Lord said: This group of amendments is probing in nature. It tries to tease out...

had given notice of his intention to move Amendment No. 84: 84: Clause 2, page 1, line 12, after ““excluding”” insert— ““(i) Annexed Protocol on the role of National Parliaments in the European Union; and (ii) ”” The noble Lord said: I do not propose to move this amendment but...

had given notice of his intention to move Amendment No. 84: 84: Clause 2, page 1, line 12, after ““excluding”” insert— ““(i) Annexed Protocol on the role of National Parliaments in the European Union; and (ii) ”” The noble Lord said: I do not propose to move this amendment but...

I am grateful to almost everyone who took part in this short debate, particularly to the Minister for a very full reply. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Radice, did not think that I was criticising his report—far from it. I used his second report to make a number...

I am grateful to almost everyone who took part in this short debate, particularly to the Minister for a very full reply. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Radice, did not think that I was criticising his report—far from it. I used his second report to make a number...

I rise to support a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Owen, which nobody else has picked up, but which is central to the debate. He said that we agree not only to laws passed by Parliament; we also agree to treaty law in Parliament. That is why we...

I rise to support a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Owen, which nobody else has picked up, but which is central to the debate. He said that we agree not only to laws passed by Parliament; we also agree to treaty law in Parliament. That is why we...

May I—

May I—

I support the amendment so ably moved by the noble Lord, Lord Taylor. He is suffering from a slight attack of hopefulness after dinner because, no matter which colour they are, all British Governments have suffered from delusions over the common agricultural policy and its reform. All British Governments have...

I support the amendment so ably moved by the noble Lord, Lord Taylor. He is suffering from a slight attack of hopefulness after dinner because, no matter which colour they are, all British Governments have suffered from delusions over the common agricultural policy and its reform. All British Governments have...

The noble Lord may have made a small mistake; he may have confused me with a Member on the Conservative Benches. Of course, I am not. I am UKIP. The noble Lord, Lord Lamont, has asked me to make that clear, which I do with great pleasure. Secondly, I do...

The noble Lord may have made a small mistake; he may have confused me with a Member on the Conservative Benches. Of course, I am not. I am UKIP. The noble Lord, Lord Lamont, has asked me to make that clear, which I do with great pleasure. Secondly, I do...

I apologise for interrupting, but the noble Lord said that since the Fisheries Council of 2002, the Government have worked for improvements, but the figures that the noble Duke, the Duke of Montrose, produced are still truly shocking. Will the Minister not admit that to have 60 to 70 per...

I apologise for interrupting, but the noble Lord said that since the Fisheries Council of 2002, the Government have worked for improvements, but the figures that the noble Duke, the Duke of Montrose, produced are still truly shocking. Will the Minister not admit that to have 60 to 70 per...

I would like to intervene briefly, particularly following the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, who seemed to say, ““Yes, the common fisheries policy is not working at all but we have to retain it””. That seems a rather odd position to be in. I remember being on the...

I would like to intervene briefly, particularly following the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, who seemed to say, ““Yes, the common fisheries policy is not working at all but we have to retain it””. That seems a rather odd position to be in. I remember being on the...

I think that the noble Lord might have to take that up with the Canadians, because I believe that the situation is improving significantly, particularly since they kicked out the Spanish fishermen who were overfishing Canadian waters. The Spanish have a long history of fishing in those waters. The noble...

I think that the noble Lord might have to take that up with the Canadians, because I believe that the situation is improving significantly, particularly since they kicked out the Spanish fishermen who were overfishing Canadian waters. The Spanish have a long history of fishing in those waters. The noble...