The
Committee consisted of the following
Members:
Bacon,
Mr. Richard
(South Norfolk)
(Con)
Bailey,
Mr. Adrian
(West Bromwich, West)
(Lab/Co-op)
Bone,
Mr. Peter
(Wellingborough)
(Con)
Cash,
Mr. William
(Stone)
(Con)
Cryer,
Mrs. Ann
(Keighley)
(Lab)
Dobbin,
Jim
(Heywood and Middleton)
(Lab/Co-op)
Efford,
Clive
(Eltham)
(Lab)
Evennett,
Mr. David
(Bexleyheath and Crayford)
(Con)
Francois,
Mr. Mark
(Rayleigh)
(Con)
Griffiths,
Nigel
(Edinburgh, South)
(Lab)
Hunter,
Mark
(Cheadle)
(LD)
Johnson,
Ms Diana R.
(Kingston upon Hull, North)
(Lab)
McCarthy-Fry,
Sarah
(Portsmouth, North)
(Lab/Co-op)
Moore,
Mr. Michael
(Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
(LD)
Murphy,
Mr. Jim
(Minister for
Europe)
Taylor,
Ms Dari
(Stockton, South)
(Lab)
Turner,
Mr. Neil
(Wigan)
(Lab)
James
Davies, Committee
Clerk
attended the Committee
First
Delegated Legislation
Committee
Monday 16
July
2007
[John
Bercow
in the
Chair]
Draft European Communities (Definition of Treaties) (Stabilisation and Association Agreement) (Republic of Albania) Order 2007
4.30
pm
The
Minister for Europe (Mr. Jim Murphy):
I beg to
move,
That the
Committee has considered the draft European Communities (Definition of
Treaties) (Stabilisation and Association Agreement) (Republic of
Albania) Order
2007.
This is my first
time in Committee under your chairmanship, Mr. Bercow. I am
delighted to welcome you to the Chair and I look forward to serving
under you on many future occasions. I also welcome my hon. Friend the
Member for Kingston upon Hull, North to the Committee. She is new to
the role of the person who assists you in keeping us in order. As
someone with experience of serving as a Government Whip, I am certain
that she will perform the role as least as admirably as I tried to do
during those two long
years.
The western
Balkans, of which Albania is a part, has had a troubled past. We all
remember the horrific images that multiplied across our television
screens throughout the 1990s: conflict, ethnic cleansing, massacres and
the breakdown of law and order. Our challenge todaythis is one
of the United Kingdoms foremost foreign policy
prioritiesis to help the region to draw a line under its
troubled past and to move towards a much brighter
future.
The United
Kingdoms vision of that future is one of all countries in the
region moving steadily towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
That is the right vision for those countries because it provides the
incentives for reform and it will bind the countries together into
relationships of mutual co-operation and interdependence. It is the
right vision for the European Union, too. The countries are not remote
and distant; they directly border the EU. Our interests will be served
by their progress towards meeting EU norms and their eventual
membership of an EU that will offer security and prosperity to the
western Balkans region. That is the context of todays
debate.
At
the Zagreb summit in November 2000, the European Union established a
process to bring the region closer to it, while fostering stability and
facilitating development. The agreement that we shall debate today is a
key part of that process. It will create a contractual relationship
between the EU and Albania, setting the terms for free trade and easier
movement of workers, services and capital. It will also set out
responsibilities for the matters of justice, freedom, security and
regional co-operation. The Government are convinced that the proper
implementation of the agreement will help to bring stability and
economic growth, and strengthen the rule
of law in Albania. That will be especially important for not only
Albania, but the United
Kingdom.
Albanian
criminal interests impact directly on the UKs well-being. Our
best way in which to deal with thembilaterally and through the
EUis to establish a close partnership with Albanian
institutions that will enable a strengthening of the rule of law in
Albania and lead to a stronger capacity to tackle organised crime and
corruption. As part of the European Union integration process, the
countries of the region are required to take forward key reforms in
public administration, economic governance and the fight against
organised crime and corruption. While more progress is needed
throughout the region, the prospect of eventual EU membership has been
a powerful driver behind reform efforts, and improving governance and
stability. As the countries move closer to the EU, we hope that a
return to conflict becomes increasingly
improbable.
Albanias
stabilisation and association agreement has now been ratified by
Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia,
Poland, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as the Albanian Assembly
and the European Parliament, which is important. The
implementation of the SAA will be a central and continuing requirement
of the European Union, and, along with the priority reforms highlighted
in the European partnership between Albania and the EU, it will help to
reinforce public administration reform and good governance. The
Department for International Development and the European Commission
are working to support the reform efforts. The Government believe that
the EUs role in encouraging reform and stability is vital to
the future of peace in the western Balkans, and such agreements
constitute an important building block in that crucial progress.
Albanias stabilisation and association agreement will serve as
a strong political message of EU support to the wider region and should
provide motivation for Albania and other western Balkan states to make
further progress in moving towards the
EU.
4.36
pm
Mr.
Mark Francois (Rayleigh) (Con): It is a pleasure to serve
under your august chairmanship, Mr. Bercow, even though we
are in July. It is a pleasure, too, to be speaking opposite the
Minister for Europe, with whom I had previous dealings when we served
in our respective Whips Offices. Like him, I also did a two-year tour
of duty, and I remember that as fondly as he
does.
In my previous
job as a shadow Treasury spokesman, I had experience of working
opposite the then Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Bristol,
South (Dawn Primarolo), on the ratification of tax treaties.
Incidentally, we are all very pleased to see her back in the House safe
and well. Such treaties were often relatively straightforward, which
seems to be the case with the measure before us, so I shall bring a
smile to the face of the Government Whipand perhaps even to
that of my own Whipby stating at the outset that I do not
intend to delay the Committee too much. Nevertheless, any treaty
obligation is potentially important, so there are several questions
that I wish to put to the Minister before the Committee gives assent to
the order on behalf of the House.
The purpose of the measure is
summarised in paragraph 2 of the explanatory memorandum, which
says:
This Order would declare
that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European
Communities and their Member States and the Republic of Albania, signed
on 12 June 2006, is to be regarded as a Community Treaty as defined in
section 1(2) of the European Communities Act
1972.
Paragraph 4
says:
The
Agreement is made by the European Communities and all its Member
States, and must be ratified by each of those States as well as by the
Communities and Albania before it can come into force. The Government
intends, subject to the making of this Order, to ratify the Agreement
on behalf of the United
Kingdom.
In
itself, that seems relatively straightforward. However, the
stabilisation and association agreement between Albania and the
European Community and its member states was signed in Luxembourg on 12
June last year, which is more than a year ago. Being technically a
treaty, it must be ratified by the EU states, including the United
Kingdom, and by Albania itself. I was going to ask the Minister to
update us on ratification in other EU countries, but he helpfully read
out a list of the countries that have ratified so far. In that regard
he was ahead of me. However, unless I missed this, I did not hear him
mention Italy. For obvious reasons, Italy clearly takes a close
interest in all matters Albanian. Will the Minister therefore say what
progress has been made on ratification by
Italy?
Will the
Minister also say what progress there has been on ratification by
Albania? I believe that he said that the agreement had been ratified by
the Albanian Assembly, so will he confirm whether it has come fully
into force in Albania, or whether it is being delayed in going live
after ratification? In the case of tax treaties, the agreement
sometimes comes fully into force some time after ratification. I think
that Committee members would like to know the status of the
agreement.
Article 2
of the order specifies that it will come into force on a date to
be
notified in the
London, Edinburgh and Belfast
Gazettes.
Leaving aside
the question of who is going to tell those in Cardiff, will the
Minister give us some indication of when the order will come into
effect in the UK, assuming that it is passed this
afternoon?
The
agreement is designed to enhance the relationship between Albania and
the European Union as a step along the road to possible Albanian
accession. In order to accede, Albania will need to comply with the
three so-called Copenhagen criteria for accession states. The first
criterion is political: a state must have stable institutions that
guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for the
protection of minorities. The second criterion is economic and relates
to the existence of a functioning market economy and the capacity to
meet the competitive pressure of market forces in the UnionI
hope that someone has pointed out that criterion to Mr.
Sarkozy. The third criterion involves acceptance of the Community
acquis and the ability to take on the obligations of membership,
including the aims of political, economic and monetary union.
Of course, the Minister will
know that some Conservative Members have strong reservations about some
of those issues, especially the references to political and monetary
union. I look forward to debating those issues in the context of the
revived EU constitution. Without straying on to that debate this
afternoon, may I ask the Minister for the Governments assessment
of Albanian progress against the Copenhagen criteria? Will he give an
overview of how the UK thinks the Albanians are doing against those
three broad benchmarks?
The SAA is a detailed document
that runs to more than 500 pages. It deals with a variety of issues
including, under titles IV to VI, the supply of services and movement
of capital, in which the general thrust is in the direction of more
open markets and freer trade. Title VII covers co-operation on criminal
matters to combat such things as internal corruption, drug smuggling
and people trafficking, which have been a particular problem for
Albania in the past few years, as I suspect that most members of the
Committee would acknowledge.
It is notable that page 10 of
the European Commissions 2006 Albania progress report
states:
Sustained
progress in fighting corruption is a fundamental condition for
successful implementation of the SAA and the Interim Agreement. This
will require following up strong initial measures with systematic
efforts to tackle the causes of corruption by fixing legal loopholes,
improving salaries, stabilizing the public administration, further
simplifying complex and opaque administrative procedures and improving
the professionalism of civil
servants.
The analysis
goes on to state
that
designing and
adopting effective legislation for the required systemic
reforms
will require
broad political consensus on
how
to tackle corruption
in the medium and long
term.
Given that, what
is the Ministers assessment of how the
process is playing out? Are the Government convinced that the Albanians
are making genuine progress on those matters, which will be important
if it is going to progress eventually to EU membership? What firm
evidence do the Government have if they believe that the Albanians are
doing better? After all, we are effectively about to ratify a treaty
with the country.
The
Conservatives are not opposed to the order or the SAA that it will
ratify. However, before we pass it, I would be grateful if the Minister
would respond to my points about the likely timetable for ratification
in the jurisdictions that I mentioned, the Governments analysis
or perception of Albanian progress against the Copenhagen criteria,
and, specifically, the progress that the Albanians have made on
combating corruption? I hope that the Minister agrees that those
questions are reasonable under the circumstances, and I look forward
with interest to his
reply.
4.44
pm
Mark
Hunter (Cheadle) (LD): May I say what a pleasure it is to
have this opportunity to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon,
Mr. Bercow? My remarks will be even briefer than those of
the hon. Member for Rayleigh, in the spirit of cross-party co-operation
that seems to have emerged on the order.
The agreement is important, as
are others that have come before us, because it brings Albania closer
to the European Union, which, from our perspective, is to be welcomed.
Stabilising countries such as Albania is important. We have seen how
the prospect of European Union membership has benefited other aspiring
EU countries. Therefore, we welcome the agreement and the closer
involvement and co-operation with the Albanian Government that it
signifies.
It is
appropriate that the relevant conditions for European Union entry are
maintained and seen to be maintained. We are pleased that the agreement
continues the pattern of encouraging prospective member countries to
become economically and politically stable. As Albania has a growing
economy, albeit one that is still not fully developed and stable, it
seems that the more contact and support that we and other European
Union countries can give it, the better placed it will be. It is
clearly to the wider advantage of the European Community that it
develops its relationship with Albania and ensures that the
countrys economy continues to
strengthen.
We
are encouraged that the agreement involves co-operation on the crucial
issues of free trade, political reform and, especially, justice and
home affairs. I know that there have been specific concerns about
organised crime and corruption, to which the hon. Member for Rayleigh
referred. I, too, look forward to the Minister giving us a satisfactory
assurance on that matter. That said, I hope that, through this
agreement, the European Community can co-operate and encourage the
Government of Albania to work further in all those
areas.
4.47
pm
Mr.
Murphy:
May I congratulate you, Mr. Bercow, on
enabling our deliberations to be carried out with such apparent ease
and unanimity? I will respond to a number of points raised by the hon.
Members for Rayleigh and for Cheadle. Let me first thank them for the
tone of their comments. I also thank the hon. Member for Rayleigh for
his kind remarks about our experiences on European Standing Committees
A, B and C. We had two years of real
enjoyment.
Let me
return to the matters in hand and the points raised by the hon.
Gentlemen. The hon. Member for Rayleigh noticed that while I mentioned
11 states that have ratified the agreement, Italy, alas, was not among
them. I am advised that it is going through the process with due care
and diligence, but that it has not, as yet, arrived at the same stage
of the process as the UK Parliament. However, there is no sign of any
difficulty over ratification.
The hon. Gentleman asked when
the agreement would come into force. I have been advised that the
Albanians are currently working under an interim agreement that will
remain in place until all member states have ratified. With regard to
UK ratification, we hope that the Privy Council will be able to make an
order at its next meeting on 25 July. I hope that that gives him enough
specific
detail.
Perhaps I
could address in one group the questions about the Copenhagen criteria,
corruption and how we judge Albanias progress. The hon.
Gentleman was right about the three sets of criteria. We believe that
Albania is making substantial progress, especially on corruption, which
was raised by the hon. Member for Cheadle. Corruption is one of the key
barriers that are stopping Albania from making the progress that we all
wish it to make.
The
Government of Albania have pledged to beat corruption and criminality
and to prosecute any official or politician when there is evidence of
wrongdoing. There is considerable public support in Albania for the
elimination of crime and corruption.
The prospect of EU integration represents a powerful incentive for
Albania to make sustained progress, and we believe that EU engagement
is the right way to make that sort of
change
[
Interruption.
] Bless you,
Mr.
Bercow.
Mr.
Francois:
You have just read a sneeze into the
record.
Mr.
Murphy:
At least it was not a
snooze.
The
hon. Member for Rayleigh also asked about evidence. That is an
important question because while the Government can commit to warm
words, the issue is about how we test the Albanian Government in
practice. As far as I know, there has been evidence in recent times of
increased prosecution of organised crime in Albania. That is an
important change, but there must be further progress in that field for
us to accept that the Albanian authorities are making a 100 per cent.
effort to drive out organised crime and such crime that is emanating
from Albania and playing in different parts of the European Union,
including the UK.
With regard
to the wider points about Albania meeting its commitments, including
those under the Copenhagen agreement, we believe that the
implementation of the SAA forms a continuing part of Albanias
challenge to continue making substantial progress on the key reform
areas that are identified in its European partnership and the
Copenhagen criteria.
Although this question has not
been asked, I am sure that the Committee would appreciate it if I put
on record that neither the Government nor the EU have set an explicit
timetable for the point at which Albania would achieve full membership
of the EU. That will be dictated by conditions on the ground and the
reforms that Albania puts in place, not by an arbitrary timeline set by
the European Union or the UK. However, the Government are determined to
do all that we can to support Albania to bring about
reforms to its judicial and democratic processes and to deal with its
corruption so that it can become a fit, willing and able partner that
is capable of playing a full part in the
EU.
Mr.
Francois:
I am grateful to the Minister for what he says
about timing. Returning to the Copenhagen criteria, let us suppose that
Albania were to join the EU and at some point wanted to join the
European single currency. The means of ratifying that decision would be
a matter for the country to decide, but it will have a treaty
relationship with us if the order goes through. For neatness, will the
Minister confirm that it remains the position of Her Majestys
Government that should there ever be a recommendation for the UK to
join the EU single currency, the matter would still be subject to a
referendum?
Mr.
Murphy:
I am not sure that a conversation about
Albanias stabilisation agreement should bring us to a
conversation about the single currency in the UK. I should like to
confirm that the Governments position on a single currency has
not changed. I commend the order to the
Committee.
Question
put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That
the Committee has considered the draft European Communities (Definition
of Treaties) (Stabilisation and Association Agreement) (Republic of
Albania) Order
2007.
Committee
rose at seven minutes to Five
oclock.