European Union (Approvals) Bill

Debate between William Cash and Margot James

2nd reading: House of Commons
Tuesday 4th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Margot James)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

The purpose of the Bill is to approve four draft decisions of the Council of the European Union. All four draft decisions rely on article 352 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, which allows the EU to take action to attain the objectives set out in the EU treaties, for which there is no specific power given. That can be done only with the approval of the European Parliament and the unanimous support of all member states. Before the UK can agree those draft decisions at the Council, Parliament must first give its approval. Section 8 of the European Union Act 2011 provides that a Minister may vote in favour of an article 352 decision only where the draft decision is approved by an Act of Parliament. I am pleased that Members of both Houses will have the opportunity to scrutinise and decide whether to approve such measures.

The UK is leaving the EU. Until that process has concluded, the UK remains a full member of the EU, and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. That includes exercising the UK’s vote in the Council of the European Union on these four draft decisions. Whether or not those EU decisions involve the UK directly, they may make a difference to the context of the negotiations. While we are leaving the EU and its institutions, we will continue to maintain a resolute friendship and alliance with all the European countries. We have been working in peaceful partnership with EU member states for decades to build a prosperous and stable Europe.

[Sir William Cash (Stone) (Con)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater and West Somerset) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Margot James]

Yes, I will give way.

[Sir William Cash]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Margot James]

I commend my hon. Friend for all his work within the Council of Europe, and confirm that that will continue long after we have successfully concluded our Brexit negotiations.

The Prime Minister set out a bold and ambitious vision for the UK. She outlined our key negotiating objectives as we move to establish a comprehensive new partnership with the EU.

[Sir William Cash]

rose—

[Margot James]

I will make a little progress and then give way.

That vision for a partnership in the best interests of the United Kingdom means that we will also continue to work with the EU on tackling areas of common interest.

[Sir William Cash]

I am much encouraged not only by the fact that the Minister is giving way but by what my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset (Mr Liddell-Grainger) said. It may be that we are no longer brothers and sisters in Europe, but we are cousins. Therefore to that extent we will continue to seek to maintain good relations with the EU, despite the fact that we are absolutely going to leave.

[Margot James]

I heartily agree with my hon. Friend that we will continue to foster good relations with our EU friends long after we leave the European Union. Keeping that in mind, we are content that all four decisions that the Bill addresses are reasonable, proportionate and in keeping with our best interests, and will not result in any additional financial burdens on the UK.

As I have said, article 352 decisions must be agreed by all EU member states unanimously. When all member states are in a position to vote on the decision, the European Council will schedule a meeting of the Council of the European Union. If all member states vote to approve the draft decisions at that meeting, the European Parliament will be asked in turn to approve the draft decisions. If it does so, the decisions are adopted into EU law. All member states apart from the UK have agreed the EU-Canada decisions, and all member states except the UK and Germany have agreed the Fundamental Rights Agency decisions. We do not believe that any of the draft decisions should be considered contentious in any way.

Eurozone Financial Assistance

Debate between William Cash and Margot James

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I wish to preface my remarks by acknowledging the hard work and bitter battles engaged in by so many members of my party, several of whom are in the Chamber today, that resulted in the freedom that our country enjoys in not being part of the euro. That the euro has proved such a disastrous policy for members of the eurozone is evident to all. The improvements to our trade balances and the growth in our exports this year would not have been possible without the devaluation of sterling. The recovery of our manufacturing sector and the stabilisation of employment figures have been facilitated by the low interest rates that the UK, unconstrained by membership of the euro, has been free to pursue.

I share the view, in principle, that as we are not part of the eurozone we should not be bound by its bail-out commitments. That principle has, I believe, been upheld by our Government, but our Government cannot undo the commitments set in stone by the previous Government. The die was cast at the ECOFIN meeting last May when the UK agreed to the creation of the €60 billion European financial stability mechanism. That placed an obligation on the UK to underwrite emergency loans to crisis-hit member states.

[Mr Cash]

I do not want to interrupt my hon. Friend’s flow, but it was open to the Government to challenge the issue before the European Court and they did not do so. It was open to them to say that they would veto the treaty unless we had an unravelling of the EFSM, but they chose not to do so. They went for integration, not for dealing with the situation.

[Margot James]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, but I shall proceed to make the point that it is no good dwelling on what our Government should or should not have done and whether the former Chancellor should have committed the UK to the EFSM. The point is that the Labour Government signed up to the Nice treaty way back and gave away our veto on the costly European bail-out funds. The decision to establish the EFSM was therefore subject to qualified majority voting and would have been passed. I am not convinced that there is any basis in law to challenge that decision.

The other question raised by the motion concerns whether the loans granted under the EFSM are being granted correctly given the requirement that they should be made in conjunction with the IMF and the other much larger European financial stability facility, in which Britain, thanks to our Government, has no obligation. Under the terms of the proposed loan to Portugal, those three sources of finance share the commitment equally. If there is evidence that the EFSM is bearing a disproportionate load compared with the other two sources of finance, the Government should raise that at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers or the European Council. I cannot see any argument with that.

I contend that the situation facing Europe is so dire and potentially calamitous that we might well look back at this time and conclude that being up for a proportion of the loans distributed by just the EFSM, commensurate with our share of the European budget, was the least of our problems. The Government are to be congratulated on securing a complete withdrawal from Britain’s liability from 2013 and a very tight cap on anything we might have to underwrite between now and then—something akin to just 1% or 2% of the potential total bail-out loan facilities that might be called on by the eurozone countries. I will therefore support the amendment to the motion proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris).