Informal European Council

Bernard Jenkin Excerpts

Tuesday 31st January 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Chancellor said that we are founder members of the IMF and strong supporters of it as an institution, but that the IMF must always lend to countries, not currencies; that we would not be part of an EU bail-out fund; that we would take part only if other countries came forward too; and that that would happen only after eurozone countries and eurozone institutions had done what they needed to do to stand up and support their currency. That is the position, and I think that it is right.

[Mr Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex) (Con)]

Will the Prime Minister say something about the nature of the EU of which we are now a member, given that a subset of member states can bypass a veto and hijack the institutions for their own purposes without the consent of the dissenting member states? He is entirely right to maintain a reservation to ensure that that does not happen.

[The Prime Minister]

The point is that, as my hon. Friend knows, there are organisations within the EU, such as the eurozone group and the Schengen group, of which we are not a part, that use the European institutions. The fact is that this treaty is outside the EU treaties, which gives us that extra protection. Furthermore, we have the ability to exercise leverage to ensure that they stick to fiscal union, rather than getting into the single market, which is what we want to protect. That is absolutely important and the approach that we should take.