HC Deb 22 February 1978 vol 944 cc1432-4
50. Mr. Crawford

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to meet the President of the EEC.

51. Mr. Skinner

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next expects to meet EEC leaders; and if he will make a statement.

Dr. Owen

I expect that the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on 7th March will be the next occasion on which I shall meet the Presidents of the EEC Council of Ministers and of the EEC Commission.

Mr. Crawford

Would the Foreign Secretary and the EEC President agree at that meeting that no candidate for election to the European Parliament should be elected unless he or she gains at least 40 per cent. of the votes of the total electorate—I repeat, the total electorate?

Dr. Owen

It is a little late to move an amendment to that effect in this House, but no doubt the hon. Member will make representations in Brussels.

Mr. Skinner

Will the Foreign Secretary convey to his fellow Euro-fanatics that, when Parliament passes measures which are contrary to the wishes of the great majority of the British people, action must be taken outside the House to put these things right? Will he therefore remind the Europeans that battles may take place on tachographs, fishing and the temporary employment subsidy? There may even be battles on the question of sending Members of Parliament to the European Parliament on £30,000 a year. These matters still remain unresolved. Will my right hon. Friend remind the Europeans of them, especially Mr. Jenkins?

Dr. Owen

I thought that I was the person who was always criticising people for Euro-fanaticism. I did not quite follow my hon. Friend's remarks about action outside the House. If he is suggesting that people should take action to subvert decisions of this House, I do not share his sentiments and I am sure that other hon. Members do not, either.

Sir A. Meyer

Will the Foreign Secretary explain how he can have any kind of meaningful supranational discussions with the EEC Commission if the attitude of the British Government is to refuse to make any concessions whatever, even on the most piffling matters such as those mentioned by his hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner)?

Dr. Owen

My hon. Friend raised issues such as fishing, which is not in any sense piffling. Even the question of tachographs is very sensitive among those people most affected, and the British Government have recognised this fact. We are perfectly prepared to take unpleasant and difficult decisions. With much difficulty, and by causing a lot of disturbance, we have carried the direct elections legislation through this House to another place. The British Government have compromised on many issues and will continue to do so. This Parliament put us in a position to implement the VAT directives when a number of other countries have not lived up to their obligations. We do not castigate them and we do not expect them to castigate us.

Mr. Norman Atkinson

Will the Foreign Secretary take the opportunity at the next meeting with the President to remind him that the British Government are totally opposed to monetary union? Will he remind the President that there is no evidence whatever to support his view that full employment can be restored to EEC member States only if monetary union takes place?

Dr. Owen

I thought that most people believed that in its fullest sense European monetary union was still a long way off. It is not something which we should spend a lot of time considering, with our present economic problems. That does not mean that the President, who has a responsibility to Europe as a whole, should not point to the future and explain policies that he thinks should be implemented in future. The Commission has said that it wants a measured programme for five years, and that does not include European monetary union.

Mr. Hurd

May I press the Foreign Secretary to take up with the European Heads of Government at the European Council in Copenhagen, on 7th and 8th April, the need to find a way of emphasising that membership of the EEC is not compatible with the suppression or erosion of political freedoms, whether this is attempted by the Left or the Right?

Dr. Owen

I thought that the hon. Member knew that a declaration about democracy at the next European Council has been agreed. People have been drafting this and I think that it will be a useful declaratory gesture. However, it is not as detailed a safeguard as I once hoped would be possible to achieve.