Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Evans of Rainow Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his final words. If he looks at how the United Kingdom Government have been engaged since the Ukraine crisis began, he will see that my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have been decisive in getting a tough EU sanctions regime in place against Russia. We are actively engaged in contingency planning should those sanctions need to be further strengthened in response to Russia’s actions. When I saw the Russian ambassador last week, I emphasised to him the need for the Minsk agreements to be implemented in full, including access to all territory for the external observers.

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

2. What discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on prospects for reform of the EU.

[Mark Menzies (Fylde) (Con)]

6. What discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on prospects for reform of the EU.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Philip Hammond)]

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and I have already started talking to our counterparts about our agenda for change in Britain’s relationship with the EU. We have set out British concerns with the status quo and the areas where we need to see change.

[Graham Evans]

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said last week that one of the guiding principles of negotiations on the UK’s future within the EU should be “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this clearly shows a real willingness by our EU partners to work with us on reform and find a flexible solution?

[Mr Hammond]

We were very heartened by the German Chancellor’s comments. The great majority, perhaps all, of our EU partners want Britain to remain in the European Union. They understand now, because the Prime Minister has set it out to them, what needs to be done to make that a possibility, and we are confident that they will now work with us to achieve that over the coming months.