European Union (Croatian Accession and Irish Protocol) Bill

Wayne David Excerpts

Tuesday 6th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lidington]

I am grateful for that rescue, Mr Speaker. I want to move on to one other element of the Committee’s criticisms.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

I understand that there has been a long-standing dispute about moneys held in the Ljubljanska banca in Slovenia which, it is suggested, belong to Croatia. Has that issue been resolved?

[Mr Lidington]

I discussed that with both the Slovenian and Croatian Governments when I was visiting Ljubljana and Zagreb earlier this year. We encourage both countries to find a bilateral solution. It is clearly not for the United Kingdom to lay down how that should be done, but they need to find a bilateral agreement that is in accord with the various international treaties to which the two countries are party. We hope that they succeed in the very near future.

The Committee was critical of the Government’s assessment that Croatia was making good progress with the reform of the judiciary and the courts. I am conscious that I have given way a lot and that other Members want to speak, but I want to deal with the most egregious element of the problems with the legal system in Croatia: the backlog of civil cases, to which the Committee drew particular attention.

The backlog in criminal cases in Croatia has fallen for some time and continues to fall, and we ought to pay tribute to the work that the Croatians have done to achieve that. They are still finding it a battle to reduce the backlog in civil cases, but it is important that we should not be misled by grand totals of the number of civil cases before the courts.

According to the figures that I have for the first half of 2012, roughly 844,000 new civil cases reached the Croatian courts; in the same period, roughly 836,000 cases were resolved. Although the total number of cases pending increased slightly, it would be wrong to think that 800,000-plus cases simply sat there in the “pending” tray and never moved. The truth is far from that. There has been a reduction in the backlogs in respect of the older cases—those over 10 years old or over three years old. The Croatians have also assigned a significant number of additional judges to focus on the backlog. Again, although we accept that further work needs to be done, we think that Croatia has made good progress and is committed to completing it. We do not believe that that is a reason to delay its accession.

I move on to migration. Croatia has a modest population of about 4.5 million. The potential impact of Croatian migration is relatively small, but we know that appropriate immigration controls are crucial for stability in our labour market, particularly in the current economic climate. Recently, the Home Office published its intention to impose transitional controls on Croatian workers in line with the Government’s policy to impose such controls on workers from all new member states, under the terms provided for in their accession treaties.

The accession treaty for Croatia sets out the framework within which member states may apply transitional controls to Croatian nationals who wish to work in their country. That framework is as follows. During the first two years following accession, the existing 27 member states can apply either national immigration controls or those resulting from bilateral agreements to regulate access to their labour market by Croatian nationals.

From the third year to the fifth year, member states have the option either to continue to apply the same controls as in the previous two years or, if they choose, to grant Croatian nationals the right to move and work freely, in accordance with European Union law. For the fifth year, member states must grant Croatian nationals the right to move and work freely in accordance with EU law. However, if member states find that they are subject to serious disturbance of their domestic labour markets—this has to be an evidence-based assessment of the kind that we seek from the Migration Advisory Committee—those member states may choose to continue to apply controls for a further two years, taking us up to a seven-year maximum period after accession, having first notified the European Commission.

The Home Office will be bringing forward detailed regulations on the transitional controls early in 2013, so the House will have the chance to debate the detail of those ahead of Croatia’s planned accession date. However, the Government’s intention is that for the first two years at least we would continue with the current arrangements under which Croatian nationals who would qualify to come and work here under the points-based system would be allowed to do so, although we do not envisage further relaxation beyond that.

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[Wayne David]

Has the hon. Gentleman received the legal advice that the Scottish First Minister has clearly not received?

[Angus Robertson]

rose—

[Wayne David]

Was the hon. Gentleman listening to what I said?

[Angus Robertson]

I have. I am delighted—

--- Later in debate ---

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

My comments will be brief and I assure you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that I will not mention Scotland.

If we are honest with ourselves, the European Union often comes in for justifiable criticism these days, particularly on the Floor of the House. However, in many ways it has been a success story, given how the single market has developed and become successful—and will become more successful in future, I hope. It has also been successful in having been one of the contributory factors to western Europe not experiencing a war since the two we saw in the last century.

The big exception is the Balkans, of course. I well remember the appalling loss of life that occurred in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the European Union being unable or unwilling to do anything—relying on NATO and the Americans in particular to intervene to ensure peace and eventual stability in that region of Europe. If there is an eloquent testimony for the need for the European Union to work collectively to ensure that such a thing never happens again, it is the experience of the former Yugoslavia. Linked to that is the third big achievement of the European Union—its gradual increase in size, from its original six members to today’s 27, and we are looking further afield. That is a tremendous success for the European Union. It speaks volumes about how the EU is often perceived by people outside it, rather than ourselves within it, as something worth belonging to. That momentum will continue, albeit in a different way, into the future.

I welcome the Bill. As hon. Members have said, the whole process of Croatia coming closer to the European family has been quite a long one; it has taken at least 10 years. It is important for us to recognise that lessons have been learned from the previous enlargement processes. In particular, the Minister referred to the process by which Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, as did Slovakia. Looking at it objectively, things could have been done better in relation to those member states, where the struggle to create a fair and open justice system still has some way to go. I think that the lessons have been learned and are reflected in how Croatia’s accession has been approached. To Croatia’s credit, many of the difficult experiences of the recent past have been confronted by apprehending and bringing to justice war criminals, and that process needs to continue. Painful though it is for some elements in the country, it is important for that process to be firmly set in stone and ongoing.

As a major trading nation, it is important that we do everything possible to open up the Balkans to trade and to establish effective market mechanisms. Croatia has gone through quite a lot of economic difficulty over the past few years, and things are far from easy today. Nevertheless, we need to support its people as much as possible in making sure that they get over the difficulties they have experienced and complete the transition to a fully market-oriented economy, albeit one with social responsibilities.

It is important, too, to recognise that we live in a world that is becoming increasingly integrated—we live in a global economy, as is often said—but we are also seeing the free movement of people around the globe in an unprecedented way. I well remember receiving a briefing from a chief constable in Gwent in which, when I asked him where the major source of crime in Gwent emanated from, he said that it was the Balkans. That brought the point home graphically. Although he might not have been thinking specifically of Croatia, he highlighted the fact that while we are often concerned about tackling the problems in our country, we have to be aware that many of them begin elsewhere. International crime—Members have referred to the trafficking of human beings—is clearly a case in point.

One of the foremost concerns expressed by Members is immigration. Those concerns must be recognised. The Government have correctly said that secondary legislation will be introduced to ensure that we have an effective transition period prior to the free movement of labour, but it is worth bearing it in mind that we have lessons to learn. For example, Lithuania is a relatively small country that is less populous than Croatia, and it has been estimated that the number of Lithuanians resident in the United Kingdom has increased from 14,000 to 128,000. I am not against the free movement of peoples, and I am not against Lithuanians or Croatians coming to live in this country if they have work to do and can contribute to our economy, but we must be careful to ensure that we have in place the proper infrastructure so that those people are fully integrated and the necessary facilities so that they are supported as they should be. Will the Minister provide reassurances about the anticipated number of people who will seek residence in the United Kingdom once Croatia has full EU membership and the transitional period has come to an end?

I hope that Croatia’s accession will not be the end of the beginning of the process of enlargement, but that it will lead to future enlargement. Iceland has been mentioned, as has Turkey for many years. Unfortunately, Turkey has not made good progress recently, but it is nevertheless a key state for consideration. In the western Balkans I hope that the good example of Croatia—and Slovenia before it—will be noted by other states. As the Minister said, it is unfortunate that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s likely membership of the EU has slipped back, but we must be as encouraging as possible to ensure that it, too, has the prospect of joining the European family. Labour Members, and I hope Government Members, welcome this Bill and, with all necessary safeguards and caveats, we look forward to Croatia becoming a member of that European family.