§ 12. Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent meetings he has had with his EC counterparts to discuss the development of democratic accountability in the European Community.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesMy right hon. Friend met our colleagues from the other member states of the Community for two days last week at Noordwijk. Strengthening democratic accountability in the Community was one of the issues discussed.
§ Mr. BeithIf Ministers are serious about wanting us not to be governed by unaccountable bureaucrats, why are they not leading in the argument that those decisions that have to be taken at European level are fully accountable to a stronger European Parliament that is elected by a fair system? Why are they resisting those arguments, or seeing them as concessions that might be made during negotiations?
§ Mr. Garel-JonesThe Liberal party persists in referring to proportional representation as a fairer system. It is not fairer, it is different. One of the differences, in my view, is that it provides a foot in the door for extremist parties of the sort that we do not want in Britain.
§ Sir Peter HordernIs it not time to put an end to the fraud and corruption that go on within the European Community, as evidenced by the continual reports of the European Court of Auditors? Surely the European Parliament should be given powers to summon Commissioners and permanent secretaries of different countries to put those abuses to them.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesMy hon. Friend is right: he has raised one of the areas in which Britain has tried to take a lead in the discussions in the Community. We have advocated a considerable extension of the powers of the European Parliament in its work in scrutinising the Commission and ensuring that proper financial accountability is introduced. We hope that there will be new articles in the treaty to strengthen the role of the European Parliament in the area to which my hon. Friend has referred.
§ Mr. O'HaraWill the Foreign Secretary enlist the co-operation of his partners in the European Community to address their attention to some of the living features of the history of Cyprus, to insist that every one of the 35,000 Turkish troops that occupy the northern part of Cyprus shall be withdrawn, and to send a message to the families of the 6,000 Greek Cypriots who were killed in 1974 and the sixteen hundred and——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This is a bit wide. The question is all about Europe.
§ Mr. O'Hara—who are still debarred from returning to their homes? In their language: "Then xehnáme"—"we forget not."
§ Mr. Garel-JonesIf I can try to link the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question to the Community, the fact is that Cyprus has applied for membership of the European Economic Community. That membership, along with others, will not be considered until 1993. When the Community came to consider the application, one of the things that it would wish to ensure was that the benefit of the membership would be available to the whole community.