Foreign Languages: European Institutions

Lord Tebbit Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warsi]

I think the noble Lord will take great comfort from the fact that since 2010 the number of British applicants has increased by 50%.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

My Lords, did I hear my noble friend say that British civil servants going to the Commission lobby for British interests? Surely, that is contrary to Community law. Surely, my noble friend would agree that those who serve the Commission are required to serve its interests even after they are retired as a condition of continuing to get their pension.

[Baroness Warsi]

Those who serve the Commission, whatever their nationality, bring to the table their expertise and their experience from within the British Civil Service. Any civil servants who bring their experience of the British Civil Service to European institutions bring something additional and special which is good for the British Isles.