HC Deb 16 June 1976 vol 913 cc537-40
29. Mr. Cryer

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further measures of harmonisation in the EEC he expects to discuss during 1976.

Mr. Hattersley

I expect the Council will give further consideration during 1976 to proposals by the Commission within the framework of the General Programme on the Abolition of Technical Barriers to Trade.

Mr. Cryer

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the motion of censure yesterday mounted by Euro-fanatics is an indication of the growing unease about the way in which the Community is now operating? Does he accept that the recent directive requiring veterinary inspectors to replace environmental health officers is also an indication of that, and that it is unnecessary and totally unreasonable? Will he assure the House that he will resist measures on harmonisation when our existing standards are reasonable and satisfactory?

Mr. Hattersley

I accept the implication in the third part of the question, that harmonisation for its own sake—it is currently called gratuitous harmonisation—should be resisted, and the Government will resist it. I cannot share the opinions that my hon. Friend expressed in the rest of his question. Whatever the motion of censure was about yesterday, I do not think it conformed with any principles to which my hon. Friend would subscribe. On the second part of his question, he must put the point specifically to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture. On a number of these issues, attempts to improve conditions within the Community are carried out in the name of the Community, whereas before they would have been done on much the same scale on the authority of the British Government. The criticism would then have accrued to the British Government, whereas now it accrues to the Community. We have to judge individual propositions on their merits, and that is what we shall continue to do.

Mr. Adley

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that British citizens are now the largest group of those who are breaking our animal quarantine regulations? Will he consider inviting our EEC partners to institute, for the animals of British visitors, quarantine regulations similar to those that we impose upon the animals of foreigners coming into this country? That seems to be the only way in which we can prevent our own citizens misbehaving in this way.

Mr. Hattersley

I should like to give the hon. Gentleman an answer to that question. I should do so if I understood it, and if I thought it relevant to the Question on the Order Paper. If he tables a Question I shall do my best to accommodate him.

Mr. Jay

Should we not have more harmony in Western Europe if we had less harmonisation?

Mr. Hattersley

I hope that my right hon. Friend, like me, takes an empiric view of these matters. He will have heard the view that I expressed in answer to an earlier question—namely, that the problems and prospects of harmonization should be examined and considered on their merits. When it seems to the Government that benefit will accrue from harmonisation—the removal of some of the non-tariff barriers to trade would be beneficial to British industry—we shall support it. On the other hand, when it seems unnecessary or gratuitous, we shall oppose it.

Mr. Jessel

Would it not be better to talk of uniformity rather than of harmonisation? Does the Minister agree that harmonisation has a pleasant musical sound about it, which tends to draw people's thinking away from judging these matters impartially, on their merits?

Mr. Hattersley

I am sorry to have to enter into a semantic argument with the hon. Gentleman. Surely uniformity is an extreme form of harmonisation. As the Government want to take a moderate view of harmonisation, we do not wish to go right to the end of the road, which is the implication of the question.

Mrs. Dunwoody

Does my right hon. Friend accept that at present harmonisation is resulting in an astonishing number of civil servants of all nine member States spending a great deal of time on the most astounding trivia, ranging from the harmonisation of mayonnaise to the standardisation of continental time? It is the time that is being spent on such extraordinary and totally useless measures that is adding to the cost for the taxpayer and bringing the whole Common Market administration into disrepute. Will my right hon. Friend make some effort to ensure that harmonisation is concerned with useful measures and not utterly useless ones?

Mr. Hattersley

I have already said that I believe that harmonisation should happen only when there is some benefit to accrue. However, I urge my hon. Friend not to think of harmonisation in such a wholly total way—either wholly bad or wholly good. For example, two years ago many of us who now support—myself among them—a regulation to make uniform the fitting of rear-view mirrors on agricultural vehicles thought—myself included—that it was a funny proposition. However, I understand it has made it easier for British tractor manufacturers to sell into the EEC. That sort of harmonisation seems wholly beneficial.

Rear-Admiral Morgan-Giles

On an important detail, is the Minister aware that there is a certain lack of harmony among British chicken breeders on the New York-dressed poultry issue? Will he bring the House up to date about this matter? Is he seeking to achieve a situation that will enable us to sell New York-dressed poultry within this country, even if in future it is not possible to do so between countries of the EEC?

Mr. Hattersley

The question of New York-dressed poultry is eminently a matter for my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I must not trespass on his preserves.

Mr. MacFarquhar

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the most important item of harmonisation on the EEC agenda at the moment is the view of member States on direct elections? Will he deny reports that Britain is one of two Governments holding up an agreement on direct elections? Will he and his right hon. Friends press ahead with harmonisation on this issue as soon as possible?

Mr. Hattersley

I am not sure whether direct elections legitimately come under the heading of harmonisation. I assure my hon. Friend that there is no question of Britain holding up agreement against a majority opinion. Britain has been as co-operative as is consistent with preserving the British national interest. As for pressing ahead, we have made our position clear. We did so in the two-day debate in March. When the Select Committee reports, which I hope it soon will, no doubt the House will be able to express its view on the way that we should press on and the terms in which the pressing should continue.