Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-14-Speech-3-031"
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"en.20051214.6.3-031"2
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"Mr President, I too almost feel that I should be doing something to help Mr Alexander out, but, as a lawyer, it does not appear to me that there will be enough money in the EU budget to pay my fees. I am rather sorry for him, but he is here to try to convince the House that the Presidency is on top of events. Sadly, the past six months have shown that this presidency has unfortunately been unable even to comprehend events, let alone establish its position in relation to them. He is the messenger for a presidency that has run out of ideas, run out of steam and is rapidly running out of time.
It is sadly acknowledged across the political spectrum, as we are hearing today, that the British Presidency has not achieved what it said it would. It began with high hopes and prime ministerial panache. In this Chamber, it asked to be judged on its record over the six months it was in office. In June, I warned the House that there was often a yawning gap between the Prime Minister’s rhetoric and reality. Anyone who has watched the Prime Minister preside over this presidency will surely understand my caution. Unlike the Minister, I now want to concentrate on Mr Blair’s increasingly frantic attempts to get an agreement on the financial perspectives and the future EU budget.
In the past few weeks, he has left us breathless with his efforts at diplomacy. Flexibility and vision is all very well, Mr Alexander, but the Prime Minister’s actions have been successful only in securing the hostility of the countries of central and eastern Europe – which thought he was their friend – while gaining not a hint of compromise on CAP reform in discussions with governments. In addition, and crucially, he has reneged on a promise to the British people not to undermine their budget rebate, a promise that perhaps he should not have made. In June, he said the rebate would remain. He is now negotiating it away without any promises on fundamental reform, which he said previously were vital.
He should not be surprised if public reaction in the United Kingdom is hostile. He has misled the British people and they see it live on their television screens. They will be paying more because the Prime Minister has let them and the country down. I read at the weekend – and I hope the President-in-Office will react to it – that the British Treasury has not budgeted one cent for a reduction in the budget rebate, meaning that British taxpayers could end up paying higher taxes.
We will look closely at the latest budget proposals expected from the Presidency today. I am sorry that we did not have the benefit of hearing these in Parliament this morning, but we will judge them in part on how much British taxpayers will have to pay for their government’s mishandling of the issues and on whether there is any evidence that the Prime Minister has received any solid and bankable commitments on fundamental reform in Europe. As far as we are concerned, whatever our political positions, we need to have sensible and progressive reform. Under this Presidency, the omens have not been good."@en1
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