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Mrs. Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside): Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the form of the Government of Israel is a matter for the people of Israel and will largely be the product of their electoral system? Does he agree that while it is right that the European Union and others do their utmost to secure peace on the basis of Oslo and the Wye accords, it is ultimately a matter for negotiation between the Palestinian people and the Israeli Government?
Mr. Heath: Of course, the Government of Israel is a matter for the Israeli people. I should not dream of intervening in that process. However, this country and other member states of the European Union may have a part to play in forwarding the peace process--as the Berlin declaration set out. I hope that we can build on that
and that, where we can provide support for that process and for the process of international law, we shall do so. The middle east is an important part of the world; it is of critical strategic importance. It is an area in which many people in this country have a real interest.
In relation to what are unflatteringly described as the Amsterdam leftovers, there are rather a lot of them. Given that the Amsterdam summit was rather a jejune feast at the best of times, it is rather perverse that the leftovers seem more extensive than what was agreed. However, we must now make significant progress. There is a great imperative for reform, not least in the matter of the Commission and the way in which the EU does its business. Liberal Democrat Members want to see the reform of politics in Europe, exactly as we want to see the reform of politics in Britain. It is the same process, but it takes place at different levels. Our objectives are consistent.
The wastefulness and mismanagement in the EU which were highlighted by the Court of Auditors report represent an open sore in the relationship between the EU and its member states. My party and I believe that there can be no compromise on corruption, no weakness on waste and no respite on reform. The episode that took place early this year has shown us a European Parliament that is beginning to grow in stature. However, having said that, the Parliament remains incoherent in its response towhat happened. The socialist group defended the indefensible--cuddling up to Jacques Santer when it should have treated him with a great deal of care in relation to his defence of the European Commission. We also saw that Conservative Members of the European Parliament were unable to unite either to give support to Mr. Santer, who is a putative colleague on their Benches--I believe that he will be sitting with the Conservatives in the next European Parliament--or to disown him. That lack of ability to take coherent action was signposted by that admirable fellow Pat Cox in his proposals to name and shame the Commissioners who had been criticised. In effect, the European Parliament ducked the challenge. It has continued to do so in its reaction to matters such as the statute and the expenses. The Parliament is allowing the impression to be given that it is wedded to unacceptable practices that no Member of this House would want to defend.
Mr. Heath:
Perhaps one Member wants to do so. I give way to the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh).
Miss McIntosh:
I should be interested in the hon. Gentleman's views on why the leader of the socialists in the European Parliament tabled a motion calling for the sacking of all the Commissioners and then--as my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) pointed out--withdrew it as soon as it looked as if it would be adopted. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that that is extremely odd behaviour?
Mr. Heath:
I agree. That behaviour was shameful. The measure was an artifice, designed to try to buy time for the Commission in an unacceptable way. I find it equally unacceptable that the group of which the hon. Lady is a member was able to split three ways over the same issue,
We need a new intergovernmental conference--there is a great deal for it to do. Its work will not lie merely in salvaging the fudge over the reform of the common agricultural policy, which is unsustainable in its current form. As a representative of a dairy farming area, the dairy farming agreement will not be sustained any further than the next meeting of the World Trade Organisation--the agreement will not pass the necessary tests. The policy is not the right recipe for allowing enlargement; that is a serious problem.
We also need some serious institutional reform to prepare the EU for the next decade and beyond. We need to entrench the diversity and decentralisation that many Members of this House want to see. We need the completion of the single market. When the updated league table is produced, it will be interesting to see whether it is similar to the one produced at the last juncture at the end of 1997, when only 70 per cent. of the relevant legislation had been implemented nationally. At that time, the United Kingdom was one of only five states to have implemented 95 per cent. or more of international market legislation. Will the rest of the states catch up? Will the single market be a reality?
We need to find a way to codify properly the principle of subsidiarity that is so important if we are to bring power down to the lowest level. We must be clear that what can be done locally and regionally will be done locally and regionally, that what has to be done nationally is done nationally and that only what must be done at a European level is carried out at that level.
We hold this debate in the shadow of the European elections. The right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) indulged himself with a little low-intensity electioneering. I was disappointed; in the past, he has been more robust, but perhaps he is looking forward to his additional hours of leisure during the next few months. Today, I did not think that he was running on all four cylinders in his electioneering function. Alternatively, it might have been because he represents only a fraction of the Conservative party and he was unable to unite all its members.
There were 18 years of Conservative Government; we know what that did for our status and our position in Europe. We know the result of Conservative non- engagement. There is a vice of which I was sometimes accused when I used to play rugby.
Mr. Stephen Pound (Ealing, North):
I hope the hon. Gentleman did not enjoy a line-out with Lawrence Dallaglio.
Mr. Heath:
The hon. Gentleman is very quick. I left him that opening and he filled it.
In rugby, members of the pack are sometimes accused of flanking--hanging around at the side of the pack, hoping to do something flashy to please the crowd, but not providing any useful support to the rest of the team. When the Conservatives were in government, they had a record of flanking on Europe. The alternative is to get stuck in. It is time that we got stuck into Europe; only by
being fully engaged can we bring about the reforms that are needed. I hope that Members of the new European Parliament--from whichever party they come under the new system--will get stuck in. I also hope that the Labour Government will do so.
The Government show a strange reticence; they know that they should make progress over Europe, but they oscillate from one side to the other. They oscillate from Mr. Murdoch to the focus groups. They are so busy oscillating that we end up with a quivering mess in the middle of the road; that does not provide the progress and leadership in Europe that we need. If we are serious about creating a more successful Europe, in terms of its structure and economy and the way in which its citizens perceive the EU, we must create a Europe that is more decentralised, democratic and diverse. That is a genuine agenda for Cologne. I hope that the Minister who replies to the debate will be able to convince me that the Government share the Liberal Democrat objective of making that agenda a reality in the months to come.
Mr. Francis Maude (Horsham):
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Have you received a request from a Treasury Minister to make an urgent statement to the House about developments at the ECOFIN Council in Brussels, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer is attending today? There is evidence that those developments go directly against what the Chancellor told the House only 10 days ago. On that occasion, he made it clear that:
"the United Kingdom will not accept any directive that requires member states to introduce a withholding tax."
He said that twice. Later, he stated:
"the UK will not accept any directive that requires members to introduce and impose a withholding tax."--[Official Report, 13 May 1999; Vol. 331, c. 405.]
The Chancellor gave a clear commitment that the United Kingdom Government would veto any directive that imposed a withholding tax. It is now clear from the conclusions reached at ECOFIN that that is simply not the case. The United Kingdom Government have committed themselves to submitting a technical paper on the exemption of one part of the market from that directive. This is a matter of great importance. Thousands of jobs in the financial services industry are at risk and people need to know what is happening.
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