European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Economic Partnership Agreements and Trade Agreement) (Eastern and Southern Africa States, Southern African Development Community States, Ghana and Ecuador) Order 2018 — House of Lords, 2018-11-27
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Stevenson (Labour, Centre-left): I am sorry about that bit of theatre. It just makes the point that the structure has to be right or we cannot get to where we want to be: a mutually agreeable situation I thank all speakers for participating in the debate. As I said, the aim all along was to have a debate on issues on which we agree. More about this issue unites than divides us, and it is good to have a chance of an open debate on issues of such importance. In fact, it was a special treat to have such expertise and experience represented by the noble Lords who spoke; we were able to pick up on some important points that I am sure we will want to take away and think about when we come to read Hansard In her contribution, the noble Baroness, Lady Sheehan, used the examples of Kenya and Tanzania. She made all the points that had been picked up elsewhere about the difficulties for two countries with common boundaries yet completely different profiles on where they want to get to as societies with different experiences and opportunities. As she said, the present arrangements are unlikely to result in regional harmony, let alone the growth in economic activity that we all want I will read the Minister’s second speech in Hansard quite closely. She used "we" quite a lot in relation to the way in which these treaties have developed. It is quite unusual these days to find Ministers of Her Majesty’s Government talking as if they were speaking on behalf of the organisation with which we are all involved—the EU—but I take it that she used that word in the sense of the EU trying to achieve certain aims and objectives. That may be a small point, but I enjoyed it. The EU has done some good work in this area; despite the criticisms we have all heard, there is something of value at the end of this process. We should recognise that However, the points made by my noble friend Lord Judd are very important. We must not fall into the trap of assuming that some sort of "Made in Brussels"—I do not mean that in a negative sense—mode of liberalisation is the right one for the range of countries we have to deal with. It must be a question of fitting what is appropriate to where the various areas and countries are. I take the point that, by working with the existing arrangements in Africa and South America, there is a better chance of those arrangements working and bringing us the benefits that we are looking for. On the other hand, it is clear from the comments I read out, which other noble Lords have mentioned, that there is some dispute about that. Again, that makes the point that this issue is important and we must not let it go by default; we must engage with it in some way. Even if we go down the routes being offered to us, the question of who assesses that and under what terms of reference—for example, what success looks like—is uncomfortable for those who spoke tonight. Perhaps the Minister could take that away Moving on to the future, I do not want to sound too critical but, although there was a welcome sense that engagement with Parliament is an important aspect of the work going on in the department, I did not get the impression that any of the proposals made by either myself or other noble Lords—such as my noble friend Lord Haskel on behalf of the committees he is involved in—reached out in a way that fits with the purpose of the amendment. We may need to go through the Trade Bill and pick up the points there, because there are amendments down that would certainly open up that opportunity. To make the point more fully, if all we are being offered is a bit more information, a bit more consultation at arm’s length, a bit more engagement with civic society, but no real sharing of the process of agreeing and moving forward the agenda, I do not think that fits where we are in terms of where people want to be on trade. Trade is important because it matters, and if it matters then people need to find an echo of that Although I mentioned them in my speech, I did not hear the Minister talk about the devolved Administrations. Clearly, it is not her departmental brief to do that, but if we do not get that right, we will all just go into a brick wall at great speed and it will not work. These matters will be devolved to these Administrations and they will have their own views. There has to be some structure, some constitutional arrangement, which gives them confidence that their justifiable and important issues will be raised as part of the process It may be that a Lords committee is the right solution, but I do not think that takes the trick. I will argue very forcibly in the Trade Bill that we need to think harder about what powers are given, to whom, and for what purpose, and what process will help to engage the country thereafter. There is a frustration that the lack of information and movement on this will build up. If I can leave the Minister with this, my feeling is that you cannot leave this too long. It may be that, if everything goes smoothly with the Prime Minister’s proposals, there will be a period of two years, or possibly longer, in which we can work these things out, but there is a lot of interest and expectation now and I think it would be a mistake not to recognise that going forward With that, and with the Minister’s strong request that I withdraw my amendment ringing in my ears, I beg leave to withdraw.