European Union

Debate between David Simpson and Jeffrey M Donaldson

Tuesday 13th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson (Lagan Valley) (DUP)]

I rise not just to support the motion, but to commend the Prime Minister for the stance that he took at last weekend’s negotiations.

The reality is that a bandwagon driven by Germany and France is taking the EU inexorably towards a European superstate. Those countries are using the current crisis in the eurozone as a cover to advance their agenda, and the fiscal compact is deepening and strengthening their desire—and the mechanisms that go with it—to build that European superstate. Our experience in Northern Ireland, as one of the UK regions, is not a positive one in terms of EU membership. Some member states that point the finger at the UK today are the very ones that sign up to treaties and then drive a cart and horse through every rule that those treaties create, and it is this country that abides by the rules in the European Union. Time after time we are told that Euroscepticism is a bad thing, yet those who are most strong in their defence of the European Union are often those who do not play by the rules created by the EU.

[David Simpson]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that France is one of the biggest offenders in this regard?

[Mr Donaldson]

I accept that entirely. People who talk about vox pops in France and who quote the French ought to talk to the French farmers about the European Union and the rules that their Government sign up to. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast North (Mr Dodds) said, it is all very well talking about Britain being left outside the door, but let us wait until this treaty gets to the people in these member states and see the response when they realise its full consequences. In Northern Ireland, we have of course seen the consequences, at times, of bad European policies. As my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) reminded us, we have seen those consequences and the impact on our fishing industry in Northern Ireland. Our white fish fleet comprised more than 40 trawlers in 1999, but it now numbers just four—that is the result of the common fisheries policy. At the end of the 1990s, the Northern Ireland over-10 metre fleet comprised 240 vessels, but now it comprises 140—that is the result of the CFP. We could also say the same about our farmers, because although there have undoubtedly been some benefits, small farmers have paid a very high price for the common agricultural policy. The directives that have been imposed on agriculture have presented a real challenge for many farmers across the United Kingdom, not least those in Northern Ireland.