European Union Bill

Lord Lamont of Lerwick Excerpts

Monday 13th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom]

I think that the noble Lord would accept that, enshrined or otherwise, the red lines have until now never been subjected to a referendum. If this Bill goes through, there will have to be referenda on all the red lines originally laid down by the Labour Government. That seems eminently sensible, so I will not be supporting these amendments.

[Lord Lamont of Lerwick]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Dobbs, said in a very amusing and eloquent speech that the face of the European Union has changed out of all recognition. He added that all faces change unrecognisably as they get older, but he did not add “except to those who are behind the face”. Some of the enthusiasts for European integration should look in the mirror when they say that the European Union has not changed at all.

Earlier, we had an argument, which bordered on being disagreeable or a little ill tempered, about whether misleading things had been said about the future development of the European Union. I have to confess— I do not intend to pursue this point very long—that I am rather on the side of those who think that there was some misleading about its future development. I seem to remember that, in 1975, Harold Wilson told us that there was no question whatever of monetary union ever arising in the future. As for the phrase “ever closer union”, of course there will be ever closer co-operation in coming together, travelling and meeting across European boundaries—that is the nature of the modern world and of commerce and travel in Europe today. However, I never interpreted the phrase “ever closer union of the European peoples” as meaning the involvement of a supranational authority to such an extent, but perhaps I was wrong in my assumptions and failed to understand.

I remember standing in Trafalgar Square and sharing a platform with my noble friend Lord Deben. He and I have entirely different views on the European Union as it has evolved, but at that time we stood on the same platform advocating membership of the Common Market, as it was then. However, because, in a sense, the point is not of such great importance, I am quite prepared to concede that perhaps I failed to understand. Yet if I failed to understand, so did millions of other people in this country. Regardless of whether they should be criticised or told that they are fools for not understanding, the fact is that there is considerable disillusionment with the European Union, not just in this country but throughout Europe. I acknowledge that the noble Lords, Lord Hannay and Lord Kerr, have both admitted that extremely important fact during these debates.

As I have said before, it is not because of the Daily Express that the True Finns party has suddenly burst upon our consciousness. There are other reasons for it. First, there is a real problem with governance and democracy within the European Union which relates to the type of indirect democracy that we really operate. Deals are done between Governments; Ministers come back to the House of Commons and announce decisions; decisions can then hardly be modified because they are dependent on other decisions and concessions that have been made and on the horse-trading that has taken place. Secondly, as came out in the exchange with the noble Lord, Lord Stoddart, treaties cannot be amended. Treaties are treaties. So the role of Parliament and the great discussion which we have had about Burkean democracy is a bit irrelevant when you have the results of horse-trading in that indirect democracy and when you have the presentation of treaties. Those are two reasons why there is a real problem of governance in the EU. I am pleased to see the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, returning to his seat at this point.

The third and most important point is the irreversible nature of the decisions that are made in the EU—not just decisions about competence, but so many decisions about policy as well. They are very difficult to reverse simply because they are arrived at by a process of compromise, a process of agglomerating, of aggregating the decisions and interests of different countries together. If three, four or five years later one country has now got a different view of that issue, it is extremely difficult for the Parliament to reverse that decision because, unless public opinion has changed throughout the European Union, one Parliament alone cannot then change the decision that has been made, because one Government will require either a qualified majority or unanimity in order to reverse the decision.

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[Baroness Williams of Crosby]

I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Martin, but I think he misunderstood my point. I was not advocating that we join the euro—indeed, I went so far as to say that I saw no possibility in the near future of our doing so or even wishing to do so. My point was that we cannot walk away from the plight of Ireland because we do not happen to belong to the euro. We have to address those issues whether or not we belong to the euro, and that is an issue on which I would have thought the noble Lord and I would find ourselves sharing a very strong sense of agreement.

[Lord Lamont of Lerwick]

My Lords, I hope the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, will forgive me if I do not entirely follow her down the road of her argument and her thoughts. Of course I agree that what happens to the euro has a profound impact on us and I certainly want to see the crisis resolved in as orderly a manner as possible.

I shall be extremely brief. I am not intervening in this debate simply because two other Chancellors have spoken, although I did feel under a certain obligation, like both of them, to speak when the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, had tabled this amendment—not only tabled this amendment but talked to me, dare I say it, incessantly in the bars about it and written me a letter about it. I have the greatest respect for the noble Lord, Lord Kerr. In fact, he, I and, above all, the Prime Minister, John Major, all worked hard over the piece of paper that we are debating now: Protocol 15 of the Maastricht treaty. Although I spent a large part of my life poring over this, I have spent what seems an eternity this afternoon poring over it again trying to work out what on earth it means and trying to work out how some parts that seem to contradict it actually come together. Of course I owe it to the noble Lord to consider very seriously what he said, because he gave me great support when I was Chancellor, although when I knew that the noble Lord was putting forward this amendment, the story of Talleyrand came to mind—having been told that someone had died, he asked whatever had he done that for.

I confess that even having thought about this a little, I am not entirely convinced that there is a massive difference between the way that the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, wants to tackle it and the way that my noble and learned friend Lord Howe wants to tackle it. My noble and learned friend said that he was quite sure that I and my noble friend Lord Lawson needed no reminding that joining the ERM was in our manifesto in 1979. I confess that it was only when I became Chancellor that I expressed exasperation about the whole thing and the Permanent Secretary at the Treasury reminded me that it had been in our manifesto. It did not come quite so easily to my memory as to that of my noble and learned friend Lord Howe.

I turn to the subject of the debate. An extremely important point is that the referendum should not be about the exchange rate. Anxiety has been caused by whether Article 143 would give rise to a situation in which the actual exchange rate at which we joined the euro—perish the thought that we ever did—would be on the ballot. It is my understanding, and I hope that the noble Lord will be able to confirm this, that it does not follow that it will have to be on the ballot paper. It is an option but not essential. As I understand it, the Government are proposing a package approach. They are intending that the negotiation of the draft content of the Article 143 decision should take place before the Government formally notify the Council that it intends to adopt the euro; that is, that the negotiations should take place first. I do not see that as a great problem and I think it can be done that way. This is something which, as I understand it, has happened before.