Informal European Council

Jonathan Ashworth Excerpts

Tuesday 31st January 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The point is this: we should make sure that NATO is the cornerstone of our defence and we should be very clear about our own defence responsibilities—I have spoken about the Falklands. We need to win the argument in Europe that there is no point in having endless competing defence headquarters. What we need throughout NATO, particularly in Europe, is greater defence capacity, and we need to encourage other European partners to invest in that.

[Jonathan Ashworth (Leicester South) (Lab)]

Will the Prime Minister explain how he will take action, as he says, if this non-EU treaty under which the 25 nations can take advantage of the full force of the EU institutions, encroached on our national interest and undermined the single market?

[The Prime Minister]

Let me explain: there are uses of the EU institutions set out in previous treaties—mostly put through this House by the Labour Government—but this treaty outside the EU goes further than that, and that raises legal issues. We have said very clearly, including in the EU Council last night, that if that were to encroach on the single market and threaten this country’s national interest, we could take action, including legal action.