Delors Report (Hansard, 2 May 1989)

§ The Prime Minister

The Delors report envisages a transfer of sovereignty from member states to a new central monetary institution and central control of fiscal policy. It states that economic and monetary union would not be possible within the terms of the existing treaty and that a new treaty would be needed. Paragraph 39 of the report states that economic and monetary union must be viewed as a single process and that the decision to enter upon the first stage should he a decision to embark on the entire process.

The Government's views on the matters dealt with in the report were set out in the speech given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Royal Institute of International Affairs on 24 January and in his remarks following the meeting of the ECOFIN Council in Luxembourg on 17 April. My right hon. Friend made it clear that we cannot accept the transfer of sovereignty which is implied by the Delors report. Economic and monetary union as spelt out in the report would in effect require political union, a United States of Europe. That is not on the agenda now or for the foreseeable future. My right hon. Friend also made it clear that the Government do not believe there should he further treaty amendment as proposed by the Delors report.