EU Council

Elfyn Llwyd Excerpts

Monday 2nd July 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I shall certainly consider very carefully what my hon. Friend says. As I said, the Foreign Secretary will shortly set out the balance of competences review and how the process will work. I hope that that will inform debate; clearly, the piece of work undertaken by her and her colleagues will help. She mentions the banking sector and there are clearly rules for financial services at the level of the single market that are required and it is very important that we have a say over them. The fundamental elements of banking union, however, flow from the single currency, not the single market. That is why that union should be carried out at 17, not at 27.

[Mr Elfyn Llwyd (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

What discussions were there of the likely effects of the oil embargo on Iran and were there any discussions on the knock-on effect on prospects for a sustainable peace in the middle east?

[The Prime Minister]

There were brief discussions about Iran because the discussions about the single currency, the eurozone and the growth compact were so protracted. There is strong agreement in the European Union that the sanctions are right and necessary and I think that if we could get Iran to take a more sensible path on the issue of civil nuclear power, that would help unlock the problems of middle east peace rather than making them worse.