Vice-President of the European Commission

Lord Lamont of Lerwick Excerpts

Thursday 29th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Frost (Con)]

My Lords, these ideas are very much on the agenda in our discussions, although the differences between our position on the subject and that of the European Union remain significant. Nevertheless, we hope to have a constructive dialogue and see whether there is room to explore this further. As I have noted, the EU has been reluctant to move forward to an equivalence-based agreement, but we remain open to that and hope that it will also be in due course.

[Lord Lamont of Lerwick (Con)]

My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister agree that, while it is good news that the TCA was ratified by the European Parliament, parts of Mrs von der Leyen’s speech, with its talk of baring “teeth” and imposing tariffs, was deeply disappointing, not to mention rather unfriendly? By contrast, Monsieur Barnier said Brexit was

“a failure of the European Union and we have to learn lessons from it”.

When my noble friend meets Mr Šefčovič, will he stress that we want partnership and co-operation, and not continuing antagonism? It is time to put hurt behind them.

[Lord Frost (Con)]

My Lords, I very much agree with my noble friend. As I made clear yesterday, I hope that we can now begin to move forward on a new chapter together, as Europeans. We want a relationship based on friendly co-operation between sovereign equals. That is what we have always wanted. I note that, a few days ago, the EU head of mission said:

“We are still in the process of accepting that the UK is no longer a member of the European Union.”


I hope that that process of adjustment can be completed as soon as possible, that the language on the EU side can be toned down and that we can move forward together.