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Intergovernmental Conference

10. Sir David Knox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in the intergovernmental conference. [9242]

15. Mr. Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the progress of the intergovernmental conference. [9247]

Mr. David Davis: Negotiations in the intergovernmental conference will continue under the Dutch presidency on the basis of the draft revision of the treaties submitted by the Irish presidency. The Dublin European Council reaffirmed the target of completing the IGC at the Amsterdam European Council.

Sir David Knox: Does my hon. Friend think that the antics of the so-called Euro-sceptics and their friends in the Murdoch and Black press strengthen or weaken his hand in the negotiations at the IGC?

Mr. Davis: Madam Speaker--[Interruption.] That question was clearly drafted by my officials!

My attitude towards negotiations in the European Union starts and finishes with the interests of our country, and nothing else.

Mr. Gapes: Is the Minister aware that, last month, the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee praising the European Commission's efforts to combat fraud in the European budget? Will the Minister take this opportunity to praise the European Commission's efforts to ensure that the single market works effectively in all countries?

Mr. Davis: This country has been at the forefront of the battle against fraud, and of the battle to make the single market work.

Mr. Churchill: When the Gadarene swine are in full cry, is it appropriate to adopt a wait-and-see policy? Is it not about time we jettisoned that policy and campaigned against a single European currency, which is against the interests of the United Kingdom and against the interests of the European Union as a whole? Is it not significant

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that the country that claims to be most in favour of a single currency--at least in political terms--is Germany, although popular opinion there is overwhelmingly opposed to Chancellor Kohl's view?

Mr. Davis: I will resist the temptation to tell my hon. Friend to wait and see. Irrespective of whether we are in the first round, the single European currency matters enormously to Britain. The way in which it is designed and set up matters enormously because our markets are, to a large extent, in the European Union. That is why the Government's policy is the policy that is best for this country.

Mr. Robin Cook: Can the Minister explain why, during the recess, the major statement on the intergovernmental conference was made by the Health Secretary? Did he hear the Foreign Secretary tell the "Today" programme that he rang up the Health Secretary because he wanted to be certain about what his views were? Does not he find it rather odd that the Foreign Secretary should be obliged to ring around the Cabinet to find out the latest views on Europe? Does he really think that Britain can provide a lead in Europe when every statement from Cabinet Ministers is not about serving the national interest but about serving their interests in the Tory leadership race that they expect to start very soon?

Mr. Davis: On the division of labour among Front-Bench spokesmen on European policy, I hardly think that the right hon. Gentleman has a monopoly of criticism. It was his leader, not the right hon. Gentleman, who leapt to re-present Labour's policy when we made it clear at Dublin that if there were a Labour victory at the next general election, on 1 May, there would be six surrenders in six weeks. That is what this country must defend itself against and our Health Secretary believes just as much as I do that it must be resisted.

Sir Roger Moate: As my hon. Friend clearly agrees with the Health Secretary's call for a renegotiation of our relationship with the European Union, is it not equally logical that, just as the original negotiations were put to the people in a referendum, the results of those renegotiations should be put to the people in a referendum?

Mr. Davis: Another helpful question. The IGC will, almost by definition, be a renegotiation. The British Government will present to the IGC a vision of a decentralised, deregulated and competitive Europe that is in the interests of this country and its people. The people of this country will recognise that at the next general election.

Burma

12. Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support democratic forces in Burma. [9244]

Mr. Hanley: We continue to take action, nationally and with our European Union partners, to put pressure on the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council to implement democratic reform and full respect for human rights in Burma.

Mrs. Fyfe: In view of Aung San Suu Kyi's statement at Christmas that repression in Burma is getting worse,

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will the Minister say whether there are any European Union proposals to impose sanctions? Is there any truth in the rumour that the United Kingdom and France are seeking to delay sanctions? If there is, how much worse does the situation in Burma have to become before he agrees to impose sanctions?

Mr. Hanley: The United Kingdom has set out its policy to Parliament on many occasions. Our priority is to support democratic reform and respect for human rights in Burma through the policy of critical dialogue. We believe that that will achieve more than total sanctions. We have recently adopted a European Union common position on Burma, which has imposed a ban on entry visas for senior members of the ruling council and for senior military and security force officials, as well as a ban on high-level bilateral visits to Burma. Combined with our suspension of non-humanitarian official aid, that means that we are doing a great deal to try to help persuade the ruling junta that it should accept democratic principles. We continue to raise our concerns bilaterally through our ambassador, Robert Gordon, in Rangoon. I summoned the Burmese ambassador only last month to urge dialogue with pro-democracy groups.

Sir Cranley Onslow: The House will be glad to have heard what my hon. Friend said, but will he go further? Is it not time that we discouraged British tourists from going to Burma and supporting that regime?

Mr. Hanley: The European common position does not ban tourism. We have no plans to discourage, or encourage, tourism to Burma. If our citizens were to find travel there dangerous, our policy might change but, at present, we believe that it is up to individuals to decide. We take great pains to try to inform individuals not only of the risks involved were they to go to Burma but of the nature of the regime that they would encounter.

Rev. Martin Smyth: We welcome what the Government have been doing, but does not the Minister think that more should be done to side with people who stayed with us in the fight against Nazism in the last war and to support the Karen people?

Mr. Hanley: I thoroughly agree about support for the Karen people, who have suffered something akin to genocide. We greatly deplore that and we have supplied considerable humanitarian aid in the border regions of Burma, and will continue to do so.

Ministerial Meetings (European Union)

13. Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many official meetings he attended in the European Union in 1996; and in how many meetings he discussed the expansion of the Community. [9245]

Mr. David Davis: Last year, my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary attended nearly 30 official EU meetings, including eight General Affairs Councils and two European Councils. The enlargement of the EU was a frequent subject of discussion at nearly all of them.

Mr. Shaw: Does my hon. Friend agree that in the European Union we must concentrate on creating jobs and

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opportunities for business in Europe so that we can use Europe's market potential to our advantage and that of all European peoples? Does he agree that the danger is that Europe, instead of trying to bring in other countries and expand, is trying to become a federalist super-state? The British view and the Government's view must prevail if we are to achieve the job opportunities in Europe that we want.

Mr. Davis: My hon. Friend is right. Employment is the most important issue in Europe at the moment and the best model for improving employment in Europe is that of free trade, deregulation and low taxes--the British model.

Mr. Llew Smith: When discussing the possible expansion of the European Community, did the Minister bring to the attention of the countries involved article 107 of the Maastricht treaty, which makes it obvious that it is illegal for democratically elected and accountable Parliaments to try to influence the undemocratic and unelected central bank? As the unelected central bank will have so many powers over our economy, did the Minister say that if we were to accept the article, the vote and the democratically elected Parliaments would become increasingly irrelevant?

Mr. Davis: I hear what the hon. Gentleman says. One issue very much at the forefront of the concerns of some of the would-be accession countries such as the Czech Republic is the effect of monetary union. The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic referred to monetary union as the most important event in Europe's history in the past 50 years.

Mr. Jacques Arnold: Were the European Union to be expanded, would not the common agricultural policy and the system of structural funds become totally unviable? Given that proposition, can my hon. Friend give an assurance that those two issues will be at the top of the list of priorities in the forthcoming discussions?

Mr. Davis: Indeed I can. Reform of the CAP and of the structural funds is, if anything, more important than the intergovernmental conference in allowing the enlargement of Europe to the east and south. If those two measures are not reformed, it will place a critical--indeed, unbearable--burden on the taxpayers of Europe. Therefore, the two issues are very much at the top of our list of priorities.

Ms Quin: I congratulate the Minister on his new right honourable status.

How many of the meetings referred to in the question have dealt with quota hopping and the working time directive, which are apparently make-or-break issues for the Government at the IGC? Will the Minister list the countries that support the Government's line on each of those issues?

Mr. Davis: I thank the hon. Lady for her gracious congratulations. Some people have said that PC is not a description normally applied to me.

One of the difficulties that we must face is that much of the movement in a negotiation takes place in the last few days. I do not expect other countries to volunteer

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support for our position until the last few days--when they realise that they must do so to deliver a result. I take it from what the hon. Lady says that she is not suggesting that we give up the interests of British fisherman to get a result in Europe.

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