European Council

Nia Griffith Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, but I am not sure that I agree with him. The banking union changes went through under a treaty article that requires unanimity. That was good for Britain, because it gave us the ability to insist on the changes we needed and to get the safeguards we wanted. I believe, however, that the single market, and qualified majority voting on the single market, has helped to deepen and develop that single market. That is why Margaret Thatcher passed the Single European Act through this House. We want to have an effective single market in financial services. This country has 40% of Europe’s financial services industry, and we have to fight for it and build alliances for it. There are often frustrations in doing so, but having a single market in financial services is good for Britain.

[Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)]

Some very important decisions will be taken in the EU over the next couple of years, but the Government’s review of the competences is not expected to report back in full until 2014. How will that impact on the UK’s current negotiating position?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady asks an important question, but I think the timing is relatively helpful. It is sensible for Britain to have a balance of competences review, given how long we have been a member of this organisation. Let us go through the areas of competence—those inside and those outside the European Union—and ask in each case whether we benefit, what the problems are, and what the potential opportunities are, and reach a proper view about them. That will inform the decisions we make as the EU develops. As I have just argued, I think the real changes in the EU will not come in the next year. As the Leader of the Opposition said in his response, the time-bound road map still has quite a long way to run, and such road maps have a habit of not entirely sticking to the time set.