LORD LAMONT TAKES STANCE IN PROCEEDINGS REGARDING: "EU LAWS 'TURN PARLIAMENT INTO CHARADE'"
by Lord Lamont of Lerwick
The Scotsman
May 15, 2004

By Anthony Looch, Lords Staff, PA News
Parliamentary proceedings are increasingly "becoming a charade" because of the amount of EU legislation Parliament has to pass unamended, Tory ex-Chancellor Lord Lamont of Lerwick, complained today.

"Fifty per cent of all major British legislation starts in the EU, according to the Cabinet Office website.

"It is a remarkable admission that 50% of our major laws, and presumably an even higher number of minor laws, are made in the EU, and that might become 60 or 70% in a few years' time," he said at Lords question time.

"Much EU legislation cannot be amended, and cannot in practice be rejected by our Parliament

"How therefore can it be seriously disputed that Parliamentary proceedings are increasingly becoming a charade, and that because so much legislation is coming from Europe, the EU is acquiring the characteristics of a government?" Lord Lamont asked.

Lords leader Baroness Amos disagreed and said the amount of EU legislation passed in Britain varied from department to department.

She added: "You will know that significant negotiation goes on by our Ministers and others, usually in Brussels, before we get to the point where we agree."

Tory spokesman Lord Howell of Guildford said: "In these negotiations (on the EU constitution), is the Government going to support proper blocking powers in national parliaments, against inappropriate and excessive EU legislation?

"Is it going to adopt the red card, and not let us down over this one as well as some of the other red lines which it is claiming to defend?"

Lady Amos said she did not know to what he was referring, when he accused the Government of letting the country down over any red lines (keeping the national veto on defence, foreign policy tax and social security).

She added: "In our White Paper, we made clear what our red lines were. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have made it absolutely clear that those red lines will remain".

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