§ 68. Mr. Colvinasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he is satisfied with the cost of administering the European Commission; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdThe cost does not seem excessive, although, as with most public bodies, there is always room for improvement.
§ Mr. ColvinIs my right hon. Friend aware that in the bureaucracy of the Commission in Brussels there are only 9,000 employees, which is fewer than in most London boroughs, so it is not at all as excessive as some hon. Members may occasionally accuse it of being? Will my right hon. Friend use his best endeavours to ensure that reports emanating from Brussels are produced in future in a more concise form, because at present they give the impression of being utterly bureaucratic?
§ Mr. HurdI sympathise with my hon. Friend's second point. If he has specific examples, I should like to pursue them. With regard to his first point, at the end of last year there were 9,283 employees of the Commission. About one third of them were interpreters. That is under half the staff employed by the Greater London council.
§ Mr. HoyleCan the Minister say how much of the cost is due to the slush fund that it is reported Members of the European Parliament are using to stand as candidates for the House of Commons, as in north Wales and Clwyd?
§ Mr. Bill WalkerDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the problem within the European Community, in its administration of funds, is that we see many documents and hear about many funds that we would not sanction in the House, which causes disturbance and make it difficult for those of us who want the Community to be effective?
§ Mr. HurdIf my hon. Friend has specific points that he would like to raise, he should do so. All sorts of suggestions are floated either in the Parliament—I think that I know what my hon. Friend is talking about—or in the Commission. What counts is not what is floated in speeches but what is approved by the institutions of the Community, particularly by the Council of Ministers.
§ Mr. Arthur LewisThe Minister asked hon. Members to raise specific matters with him. Can he take specific action to stop the gravy train that seems to go backwards and forwards in the Community and the dishing out of our taxpayers' money to supply the European assembly people with gold and silver medallions? Would it not be better to spend that money on old-age pensioners, sick and disabled people, let the assembly people come back, and let those who receive fat pensions pay for the medallions instead of their being provided at the expense of the British taxapayer?