From past
experience, I had thought that the voting records of Conservative and Liberal
Democrat MEPs would provide an early fracture point for the alliance. But
judging by a recent
vote on the External Action Service that doesn’t seem to be quite so
self-evidently the case.
The Brok
Report in its consolidated form includes a new explicit provision that staff
should “carry
out their duties and conduct themselves solely with the interests of the Union
in mind”; this applies equally to seconded staff from the FCO. It underlines
the need for personnel to enjoy diplomatic immunity. A strategic policy planning
department is created. An executive chief office is established. There is
confirmed linkage with military structures. In short, it takes the project a
step further. The
developments are not minor, as a glance at the large list of offices
transferred to the EEAS organogram makes plain.
Some might
argue that having voted for the EEAS (or in our case, most emphatically not),
this is merely turning the Lisbon Treaty into practical reality. But we have
long argued that the development of an EU diplomatic corps is a historical ambition
that threatens British sovereignty and comes at significant cost. The Brok
Report last week provided an opportunity for Conservative MEPs to formally
register their disapproval. At the ‘catch-all’ vote stage, only three did –
Messrs Deva, Hannan and Helmer, with Kamall and Van Orden putting on record an
official abstention. Meanwhile, one
of their colleagues was declaring on behalf of the rest that “the British
Conservatives are reconciled and ready to engage with the service.”
I am not
convinced that all this site’s readers will be so easily reconciled. We know some
MEPs are avid readers. We also live in an accountable democracy. So let’s
please have a proper
explanation