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Lord Renton of Mount Harry: My Lords, out of interest, can the Minister tell the House whether the Government were actually in favour of the appointment of Valery Giscard d'Estaing as chairman
of this most important committee, or whether they would have liked to have seen someone slightly younger in the post?
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I do not believe that to be a relevant question. I simply reported the appointment as a matter of fact and stated that this is what is proposed. I cannot see how that has anything to do with the European Court of Auditors. I simply seek to give information to the House in order to give flavour, if you like, to the proposals that are before the European Union.
The period between now and 2004 will not be wasted. The Government are grateful to the sub-committee and to the European Communities Committee for their work. It will be evident from what I have said that we take their conclusions most seriously.
9.57 p.m.
Lord Grenfell: My Lords, perhaps I may indulge for a moment in a military analogy. I sometimes feel that the role of a chairman in the debate on a Select Committee report is rather like that of a platoon commander who goes over the top waving a service revolver, but who is happy to be accompanied by comrades with much heavier weaponry. In this instance, my colleagues have used their weaponry well in focusing on some of the really important issues in our report. It has been a very good debate. I should like to thank all those who have participated in it for showing that there are expert views to be brought to bear on a matter of this importance. We have had a model debate of that kind.
I am most grateful to my noble friend the Minister for his response. If I say, again, that I thought his response was thoughtful and comprehensive I should probably be over-egging the pudding. But, in any event, it was a helpful response in many ways. The important message that has come across from this debate and which, in a sense, is a generic message, is that scrutiny of the executive does not end when the debate is concluded. My noble friend Lord Tomlinson was absolutely right to say that this is the kind of issue on which we ought to carry out some follow up so that we can see what the Government are going to do and how words will be translated into deeds.I am not sure that we expect the Government to be shouting from the rooftops, but we want them to do a little more than just whispering through the letter-box. I want them to really make a point. For a Government who wish to be, and claim to be, at the heart of Europe, I believe that evidence of the kind of attention that they should be paying to the reform of the European Court of Auditors would give some substance to that aspiration. I strongly encourage them to ensure that our proposals are seriously pressed on our European Union partners so that the reforms that we feel are essential are carried through.
On Question, Motion agreed to.
- House adjourned at ten o'clock.
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