European Council

Lord Dholakia Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Dholakia]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for repeating the Statement in your Lordships’ House. Perhaps I may say how much we welcome the Statement, and in particular the fact that research and university budgets have not been affected. At a time of economic recession, when national and household budgets are shrinking, it is right that the European budget should reflect the gravity of the situation. However, two elements have been preserved: growth and jobs. Is my noble friend able to quantify the overall impact on growth and jobs resulting from the reduced European Union budget?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his overall welcome, and for the support he has given over a considerable period to my noble friends who took part in these important negotiations. I am not able to give a specific calculation of what the contribution of a smaller budget is likely to be to jobs and growth, because so many variables are in play: what happens in the eurozone, what happens to trade, how far we get with these talks and so on. What I am able to say is that the increased line on research and development should be of particular benefit to British universities, given that the money is distributed on the basis of quality—and, as we all know, British universities are renowned for their quality.