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Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Being able to act rapidly in the area of common foreign and security policy is, in the Government's view, vital. We need to be able to respond to new and rapidly changing events. That has been one of the strengths of the CFSP, which has proved itself to be fast-moving and adaptable.
After 11th September, there is also a greater need than ever for the EU to co-operate with third countries in the fight against terrorism and crime and in relation to the rest of the justice and home affairs agenda. It is therefore right that we should be able to get these agreements in place rapidly and working quickly—that is in the interests of safety and stability. It is also right that we should be able to conclude such agreements by qualified majority voting.
The essence of the issue is to get the policies right. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Howell, in relation to his point about recognition, that that happened under a Conservative administration. However, the crucial point is that the government of the day should get their policies right in the first place. That is why the decision to use QMV to conclude such agreements applies only when they relate to areas in which QMV already applies for internal EU decisions. When the agreement covers an issue for which unanimity is required for internal EU decisions, that unanimity will still be required to conclude any external agreement—no more than QMV can be used for decisions with military or defence implications. That has an explicit link to Article 23(2). Proper safeguards are written into the treaty in respect of QMV and the veto.
A vote against the article is a vote against common sense. Of course we must safeguard the right to object to vital policy decisions, including those involving defence matters. We have done that; we said that that is what we intended to do before we negotiated at Nice; and it is what we did there. We should not hold up the implementation of those decisions once they have been made. QMV and the implementation of decisions will
mean speedier and more effective responses. It will mean a more effective EU position when taking action on the world stage. That is why the Government support it.6.45 p.m.
Lord Howell of Guildford: I am grateful to the Minister for her comments. She is right to say that a limited application of QMV is involved. As I said in an earlier intervention, we on this side do not stand on principle against sensible applications of QMV, although each new application is inevitably a constraint on independence of action. However, that is natural in the interdependent world in which we live. We have some unease about the proposal and we may return to it in more detail later. However, in view of what she said, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Lord Howell of Guildford moved Amendment No. 11:
- Page 1, line 9, at beginning insert "Article 1 (other than paragraph 6, subsection 2, revising Article 27e of the Treaty on European Union),"
The noble Lord said: This amendment relates to Article 27e of the Treaty on European Union, which is concerned with enhanced co-operation. There has been prolonged debate about that concept. In this context other words have been used, such as, "flexibility" and "advanced guard"—I am afraid that the phrase in French escapes me for the moment. The idea is that some countries can move in certain directions together. The phrase that is usually used is that they "move forward" together. However, it could be argued that countries that want to lock themselves into a more rigid pattern of co-operation may be not moving forward at all but holding themselves to a single pattern while other countries are freer to move in an agile way in a constantly changing world. The association of progress with enhanced co-operation is not automatic. The idea that more co-operation, like more integration, means moving forward may not involve the appropriate verbs and nouns for the world into which we are moving.
At Nice, it appeared that while there was agreement that ideas for enhanced co-operation would go forward, it was also assumed by some that the veto of individual countries on an enhanced co-operation project, if one can call it that, would be retained. However, the veto was not retained in the treaty; it was removed. The brake has been removed from the pattern of enhanced co-operation—from using the resources of the Community as a whole. The new developments can go forward—or in whichever direction is appropriate—against the wish of a particular country. We do not like that; we thought that the veto should have been kept. We thought that it was going to be kept, but it was not kept in the treaty.
That is why the amendment, which suggests that that aspect should not apply to the United Kingdom, is necessary. I beg to move.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The EU has been a success for all these years because of its ability to develop and change—because of its flexibility. That flexibility is tested every time that more member states join. In an EU that stretches from Lisbon to Tallinn, it will be increasingly difficult to get agreement to move ahead in all areas with all member states.
Flexibility in the EU has been called many different things, such as "differentiated integration" and "variable geometry"; and a range of other descriptions have been used by others. In plain English, that means that EU member states do not have to do everything together. It allows smaller groups of member states to take action in certain areas that are covered by the EU treaties, but without requiring every other member state to join in.
The provisions for enhanced co-operation already exist; they were introduced in the Amsterdam Treaty. However, they have not yet been used. Nice makes them easier to use for those who want to use them, while strengthening the safeguards for those who do not. That is a sensible move and one we believe is necessary to prepare for the enlargement of the Union that we want. So we welcome it.
It is not about building some sort of two-speed Europe or a hard core of states preventing others from joining in. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister said in his speech in Warsaw last year that enhanced co-operation is an instrument to strengthen the Union from within, not an instrument of exclusion. The safeguards that we built it at Nice will prevent that.
The treaty makes clear that enhanced co-operation must be a last resort, not the rule. As many member states as possible will be encouraged to join in. Those wanting to join an existing enhanced co-operation later will be given every opportunity to do so. Enhanced co-operation must respect the rights of those not participating. It must not undermine the single market, constitute a barrier to trade or distort competition. Actions under enhanced co-operation will not form part of the acquis or basic rules of the EU, so neither existing nor new members will be required to take part.
It was right to strengthen those safeguards, and, as we did at Nice, to amend the procedures so that, providing the safeguards are respected, no one state can veto a proposal for enhanced co-operation. The exception—I stress this point for the noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford—is common foreign and security policy. Nice introduces for the first time the possibility of enhanced co-operation in CFSP, which we support. But we have retained the veto there. The so-called emergency brake stays for CFSP and not elsewhere for the good reason that policy decisions in CFSP are taken unanimously.
As the Opposition have tabled only one amendment on the procedures for those outside CFSP enhanced co-operation to join it, I take it that they do not object to the principle of enhanced co-operation itself. I welcome that, if that is the case. Perhaps the Opposition believe, as the Government do, that enhanced co-operation is an opportunity, not a threat. In a number of scenarios, Britain may want to join actively in areas of enhanced co-operation. In the Community pillar, for example, the UK may want to join an initiative on scientific research that some other states may not want to join. The UK may want to participate in an initiative to improve transport links between the UK and neighbouring member states.
In CFSP, the United Kingdom may want to join other interested member states to implement a common EU policy—for example, in Africa, where some EU partners, like ourselves, have historic links—on managing monitors. That is an entirely understandable position. In justice and home affairs, we can imagine the UK joining a group of member states to agree tough action on an issue that directly affects only a small group of us—for example, drugs trafficking in the North Sea. All in all, the improved enhanced co-operation arrangements will be good for Britain and are a valuable feature of the treaty. We strongly support them.
Lord Watson of Richmond: Surely, in the background to the article as drafted, is a reminder of the fundamental purpose of the Treaty of Nice. The treaty is tied to the enlargement of the Community; it is the basic facilitator. It is impossible to conceive the enlarged Community without the formalisation of flexibility—we could call it the institutionalisation of pragmatism—which Article 27 is all about. The article represents a practical way forward; it makes a lot of sense. It is good for Britain and good for the Community.
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