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4.45 pm
Mr. John Maples (Stratford-on-Avon): This is the first occasion on which we have had a debate on Europe with the new Minister responsible for Europe, the hon. Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz), in his place. We are delighted to welcome him to his new job. The average life expectancy of people in his office is falling; it is currently about 10 months. The previous occupant was in the post for a few weeks, although at least he got promoted.
The hon. Gentleman comes to the post at a vital time, with the intergovernmental conference, in which he will no doubt have to play a significant role, about to start. In that respect, I hope that he turns out to be a better negotiator than his boss, whose tenure in office has not been characterised by diplomatic finesse and subtlety. It has in fact been characterised, particularly in the European Union, by a succession of surrenders, rather than negotiation.
We signed the social chapter and got absolutely nothing in return. At Amsterdam--[Hon. Members: "Last week's speech."] There is much more in it than there was last week. I just want to remind the Foreign Secretary of his shortcomings. At Amsterdam, he gave up our veto in 16 areas and got nothing in return. The European security and defence identity, about which I shall have more to say later, is a complete U-turn on what he was saying after the Amsterdam treaty. It is a bit much for him to accuse us of being wrong because we do not share his objectives when he himself did not share them until about a year ago. Apparently, all that was done to get good will, and all I can say is that it was a very high price to pay for good will that, so far, seems to have achieved nothing.
I do not know whether you remember, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but, in the 1980s, there was a Danish politician who suggested that the Danes should scrap their defence budget and buy a tape recorder with a tape that said endlessly, "We surrender", in Russian. That is a policy of which the Foreign Secretary would no doubt have approved in his CND days, and old habits obviously die hard. We should like to see him, from time to time, standing up for Britain's interests rather than simply surrendering to other people's interests.
What has the Foreign Secretary done over the past two and a half years to get the single market completed? What has he done to stop a raft of damaging, costly regulation under the social chapter? What has he done in the European Union to stop the scandal of the Gibraltar border, which is a clear breach of the treaties? He first
mishandled that matter at Amsterdam, and subsequently on Spain's entry to NATO's military command. Since then, there has been masterly inactivity while the border remains blocked. Why does he not get the Commission to take Spain to the European Court over that matter?
I sometimes wonder why the Government bother to go to summits at all, since, when they get there, they just go along with what others propose. They could save themselves a lot of money and trouble by just sending a power of attorney. As my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition said:
Mr. Giles Radice (North Durham):
Where is the lorry that we were promised?
Mr. Maples:
That will be a much more sophisticated operation than EUnice, which is a pretty corny name even for a bus. It must have been Alastair Campbell's day off when they dreamed that one up. I thought that a classicist in the Foreign Office might have come up with Eurydice, but perhaps that is a little too complex for Foreign Office Ministers. The Minister with responsibility for Europe will have to put himself through the awful business of making a terrible fool of himself touring the country with Eddie Izzard. That shows what the Prime Minister thinks of the Foreign Office: he allows his tennis partner, Lord Levy of blind trust, to do the middle east and Eddie Izzard and EUnice to do Europe.
The name EUnice is perhaps more appropriate than the Government think, for the characteristics attributed to one who bears the name are a "tendency to make promises" that she cannot keep and
All that is being done to
The truth is that EUnice, like the national changeover plan, is part of the Government's plan to take us into the single currency by stealth. The Government dare not come out and say so, but that is their purpose.
Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend):
Will the hon. Gentleman say whether he wants to keep Britain permanently out of the single currency?
Mr. Maples:
Never is an extremely long time in politics. My view of the single currency is that of my party: that we should stay out of it until it has passed through at least one economic cycle, including a recession. In addition, there are significant economic and constitutional obstacles to joining. The hon. Gentleman knows that our policy for the next general election is to campaign on not joining the single currency for the duration of the next Parliament. That contrasts with the Government, who are trying to take us in by stealth.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Keith Vaz):
I thank the hon. Gentleman for the wide publicity he has given to the Government's Euro-roadshow. In the six cities that I have visited over the past two days, the bus has been warmly welcomed, and those who have welcomed the Government's action include several Conservative councillors in Newcastle.
Mr. Maples:
I am delighted to hear that the pantomime is a success.
One of the serious issues facing the European Union, which is not on the agenda for Helsinki although I am sure that it will be discussed, is the millennium round of trade negotiations in Seattle. The Conservatives are committed to trying to achieve global free trade within the next 20 years, and transatlantic free trade far sooner than that. The EU will have a vital role to play in Seattle and in the meetings that follow. There have been some encouraging noises, but we must bear in mind how Leon Brittan's initiative to create a North Atlantic marketplace was effectively vetoed by France. I hope that that does not happen again. Almost all members of the EU share the view, held by the Foreign Secretary and me, that free trade is a good thing.
Tariffs are a tax on consumers. Why should EU consumers pay 9 per cent. on imported chocolate, 10 per cent. on imported biscuits and 13 per cent. on imported clothes? Why are there apparently special taxes on parking meters and life jackets? The EU has 15,600 separate import duties and 10 per cent. of the revenue gained from them is spent on collection. A recent study by a French economist estimates that the cost to the EU of that protectionism is between 6 and 7 per cent. of its gross domestic product: that is £300 billion a year, or the equivalent of nearly £1,000 per consumer and about £150,000 per job saved as a result of that protectionism. That is a bad deal for European consumers and businesses. The EU should now show that it is serious about free trade by stating its willingness during the millennium round to make a bonfire of most of its tariffs.
I know that the common agricultural policy will be a difficult hurdle. Commissioner Lamy was saying as much yesterday and today. However, reform of the CAP must
come about if we are to succeed in this trade round, and I hope that we are all committed to that. Tariffs and quotas are the discredited apparatus of mercantilism and they have no place in the 21st century. We would like to see the EU take a lead in the global drive towards free trade.
Mr. Denis MacShane (Rotherham):
Eighteen years.
Mr. Maples:
A huge amount has been achieved in the past 18 years. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman noticed the Uruguay round. He probably did not. He was probably too busy interjecting in other people's speeches from where he sits. The Uruguay round gave a huge boost to world gross domestic product.
Last week, I spent a long time on the subject of the European security and defence identity and, today, the Foreign Secretary spent a long time on it. It is scheduled for discussion in Helsinki. We should not forget that, a year ago, the Government thought that the EU had no role in this area. After the Amsterdam negotiations, the Prime Minister prided himself on how he had succeeded in vetoing the French-German initiative to give the EU capability or some role in military matters. The Foreign Secretary said the same thing after Amsterdam. However, the Government have done a 180 deg U-turn.
It is no good, as they did last week, the Foreign and Defence Secretaries pretending that there is no United States concern about the matter. The US is wholly behind the idea, as are we, of Europe beefing up its defence capabilities within NATO, but neither the US nor we like the idea of this development moving outside NATO, as it appears to be doing. We believe that this will end up as a threat to NATO, and I shall explain why.
After last week's debate, we had the Anglo-French summit, when these matters were considered more closely. As the communique states, military co-operation was approved in developing
As recently as June, the Foreign Secretary was saying that there was no question of a European army. However, two or three weeks ago, we were talking about a Euro Corps of 40,000 people. At the summit with the French, we were talking about 50,000 to 60,000 people. The Italian Defence Minister is now quoted in L'Unita as calling for a European army of 120,000 people. It is no good the Foreign Secretary pretending that there is no such agenda. He is playing with fire. He is playing along with an agenda that he does not control and that I believe that he does not understand. It is dangerous, and it will undermine NATO.
Anglo-French military co-operation is not new and the Government did not invent it. However, it is a very good thing and we wholly approve of it. We are the two most serious military powers in Europe with the ability to project force. We have had a combined air group for a long time. There have been many combined naval exercises and our armies often find themselves doing things together.
Any additional momentum that can be given to interoperability--for example, the ability to land on each other's carriers or use each other's heavy lift capabilities--is to be welcomed. However, I believe that command and control of any European operation must be within NATO. That is now in danger of developing outside NATO and, if that move takes place, it is bound to become a competitor to NATO. The EU nations will meet first to discuss their views and then they will go to NATO. That is what frightens the United States.
The United States made its views clear at the Washington summit. It set out three tests. First, it said that there should be no duplication, but setting up new command-and-control systems, military committees and intelligence-gathering apparatus involves expensive duplication at a time when the American Secretary of Defence is criticising the Germans for how little they spend on defence. However, they want to involve themselves in expensive duplication.
"Britain's seat is never so empty as when the Prime Minister is sitting in it."
The Foreign Secretary's incompetence has been added to by farce. We now have a bus called EUnice going around the country. [Interruption.] If hon. Members want to intervene, I will be happy to take interventions, but there should be no barracking.
"to be lavish . . . and spend money freely".
Nothing could more accurately reflect the Government's attitude to Europe, or Europe's freedom with its own budget. There is a surprisingly large choice of words beginning with "EU", the two most appropriate to the Government being euphemism and eunuch--hype coupled with impotence--as they have so often characterised their diplomacy. All that would be a farce, were it not costing £60,000 of taxpayers' money, with what the parliamentary answer calls "travel and accommodation" on top--since the bus has recently been in Paris, I imagine that that did not come cheap.
"set out the benefits of Britain's membership of the EU".
I wholly support that objective, and concur with many of the Foreign Secretary's assessments of those benefits--[Hon. Members: "Oh!"] My saying that is nothing new. However, if that is the right hon. Gentleman's objective, he has been extraordinarily unsuccessful. The British social attitudes survey published in yesterday's Financial Times reveals that opposition to EU membership is now at an all-time high, with more than 50 per cent. of the British population wanting either to leave the EU, or to reduce its powers. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would do better to stay at home.
"rapid capability goals in the fields of command and control, intelligence and strategic lift".
Those things are currently supplied by the United States. The communique said that that would involve costly duplication of intelligence and command-and-control mechanisms. It added that there should be a military committee and military structures set up with a military staff under the EU, and that is outside NATO.
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