UK: EU Membership

Lord Kilclooney Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

It is important that Ministers do what they can to make sure that the best possible outcome for Britain is achieved. I think the noble Lord would accept that the first ever cut in the EU’s seven-year budget last year and protection of the UK’s rebate were two great successes. He would also accept that changes and reforms to the common fisheries policy—again Britain putting its interests on the table but doing so in the interests of all of the European Union—are progressive steps. We can therefore show that the Government can act in the interests of the United Kingdom in a way that is also beneficial to the rest of the European Union.

[Lord Kilclooney (CB)]

As a former MEP, can I ask the noble Baroness to tell us what the great benefits of membership of the European Union are, other than the single market?

[Baroness Warsi]

Of course, the single market is one of its greatest benefits, both in relation to the amount of trade—the large marketplace that the European Union presents—and the free movement of persons around the European Union. Let us not also forget that the ambitious trade treaties that the European Union has managed to negotiate with larger developing economies around the world have had great benefits for Britain.