Brussels Summit (Hansard, 22 February 1984)

§ 57. Mr. MacKenzie
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what prospects he holds out for the success of the Brussels summit in solving the current problems in the Community.

§ Sir Geoffrey Howe
The principal issues in the negotiation were discussed at an informal meeting of European Community Foreign Ministers on 18 and 19 February and at the Foreign Affairs Council on 20 February. The French Presidency is also holding an extensive series of bilateral meetings. It is not yet possible to draw conclusions from those discussions. Our aim is to make decisive progress at the March European Council.

§ Mr. MacKenzie
Will the Secretary of State give the House an assurance that he will firmly resist any suggestion, be it from the Commission, the Council of Ministers, or whatever, that money that should properly be spent on regional aid, modernisation of industry and providing jobs for our people, will not go to European farmers?

§ Sir Geoffrey Howe
One of the central objectives of the negotiation is to secure a better balance in the expenditure and distribution of Community funds, and regional policy forms one part of those objectives.

§ Mr. Yeo
Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that, when the British people are being asked to accept cuts in expenditure on all sorts of desirable domestic projects, on housing, education, transport or whatever, it would be wrong to suggest that an increase in own resources of the EEC can be made for projects which, in the main, will be of no benefit to the British people?

§ Sir Geoffrey Howe
My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to one feature which is increasingly dominant in the discussions—the need for all Community countries to maintain the strictest possible budget discipline. We are grateful for such firm support from the Socialist 813 Government of France on precisely that objective. Even when that is achieved, we must recognise also that the Community's objective, not least that of the common agricultural policy, is also a policy in which this country has some interest. Our task is to secure a better balance of policies, a firmer budget discipline and, above all, a better distribution of budgetary burdens.

§ Mr. Boyes
What does the Foreign Secretary mean by saying that the present crisis is damaging our security objectives? Does he mean that he is working towards a separate EEC group, either inside or outside NATO, on security matters or — as many of us suspect — that, following the installation of the first missiles, the President of the United States of America is further interfering in European affairs? Is it that to which the Foreign Secretary is really reacting?

§ Sir Geoffrey Howe
There must be almost no limit to the fancies which disturb the hon. Gentleman's mind. I have no concern of that kind. I have this point in mind —that the European countries, including those that are members of the Community, have an important common interest to promote. In the role that we played, for example, in the opening stages of the Stockholm conference on disarmament in Europe, it was of the greatest advantage to have co-operation, not just between members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, but between members of the European Community.

§ Mr. Bill Walker
Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the farming community in Scotland is worried about the difficulties faced in Europe, and is grateful to Her Majesty's Government for the payment of the hill livestock compensatory allowances?

§ Sir Geoffrey Howe
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he said. We must seek to secure for British farmers in Scotland, as in other parts of the United Kingdom, the right to compete on fair terms with products in the Community.

§ Mr. Robin Cook
Will the Foreign Secretary confirm that the increase in own resources proposed by Gaston Thorn at the weekend was not 1.4 per cent. of VAT, but a full 2 per cent. of VAT? Does the Foreign Secretary appreciate that that sum, on the harmonised base used by Brussels, would represent over one fifth of our total VAT receipts? If he has been successful in making progress towards gaining control of agriculture expenditure, why on earth does the Commission need to double its income?

§ Sir Geoffrey Howe
No such sum was proposed at that meeting. We are as interested as the hon. Gentleman to ensure that any proposal for an increase in own resources is scrutinised with the utmost care. It would have to be justified. No conclusion has been reached yet. Beyond that, there can be no increase in the Community's own resources unless there is a successful outcome on the need for agreement on the effective control of agriculture and other expenditure, and of the need to establish an equitable financing mechanism.