Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Question

14:37:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government when they expect to announce the appointment of members for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

My Lords, the Prime Minister announced the new UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe via Written Ministerial Statement on 14 November. We value the work of the UK delegation and look forward to working with its new leader, the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, and all other appointees.

I thank the Minister for that positive response. The Council of Europe is a very important body containing representatives from many countries, not just members of the EU. Can she confirm that the Government will give full, ongoing support to our parliamentary representatives with a view to further enhancing good relations with these neighbours, who share our beliefs in the rule of law, human rights and democracy?

I am very pleased to confirm that to the noble Lord, and I pay tribute to the work that he has done to promote the Council of Europe both in this House and earlier in his career as a Member of the European Parliament. It is important that we play a leading role in the Council of Europe, and we will continue to support our delegation in any way possible. My honourable friend Stephen Doughty, the Minister for Europe, will meet the delegation early in January, and it will be supported by our officials in Strasbourg as well. We look forward to working closely with it.

My Lords, for the first time, Britain’s delegation to the Council of Europe has Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Cross-Bench and nationalist members. While we will have different views on many issues, it is my fervent hope that we will be united on matters important to Britain. In order that we achieve that, will my noble friend and her colleague Stephen Doughty meet the delegation on a regular basis so that we work to ensure that Britain plays a fully engaged and constructive part in the Council of Europe—the vision and legacy of Churchill, established by the Treaty of London signed in St James’s Palace 75 years ago?

I am very happy to confirm that on behalf of my honourable friend the Minister for Europe and I welcome the invitation to meet the delegation. We have 18 Members of this Parliament and 18 substitute Members. We have a very good delegation, as he says, representing both Houses and all parties.

My Lords, while we are on the subject of UK delegations to European assemblies, does the Minister share my disappointment that we still do not have a UK delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly? The European Parliament delegation is up and raring to go. Is it not a bit odd that it seems keener on a parliamentary reset than the Westminster Parliament?

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Ricketts, for his question. I do not know precisely why the nominations for this delegation have not yet been resolved. I believe that we on this side have resolved the issues; I do not know whether the noble Lord on the Front Bench opposite can shed some light. I understand that a change of Government, new roles and a change of leader will inevitably cause some delay, but I hope we can get this resolved very soon.

My Lords, could the Minister help us any more with any speculation as to what she thinks might be causing the delay? It is really not a good look that we have not yet got our act together to nominate the Westminster side of the parliamentary assembly with the European Parliament. It has been quite a few months since the general election. Some of us are very hopeful about the reset, and I am sure the Prime Minister does not want to keep meeting his EU counterparts with them saying, “Where are your Westminster people?”

The delay, I believe, is not something that is within my control, if I can put it that way. We are keen to get this moving. As soon as we receive the names from the Opposition in the other place then we will be in a position to move this forward. We want to engage with this on a cross-party basis, so being sympathetic and patient is the right approach. However, I am sure that noble Lords on both sides will have noted the eagerness to make progress from the noble Baroness and will take that into account.

My Lords, how much does our membership of this assembly cost us annually?

My Lords, the cost of our membership of the Council of Europe is something in the region of £40 million per year.

My Lords, the Council of Europe remains one of the fora which is shared by Britain and Poland. Will the Minister please suggest to our delegation that the council puts on its agenda Poland’s breach for 75 years of the need to restore property that was stolen from Jewish and indeed non-Jewish victims in the Second World War? If they will not pay compensation, will they at least display a commemorative plaque?

I am sure that the leader of our delegation, the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, was listening closely to what the noble Baroness said. To remind noble Lords, the Council of Europe came out of the Second World War. The founding of the institution was led by Churchill and Bevin. We are very proud to be members of it, and the priority that it places on the rule of law and securing human rights is something that we can justifiably be proud of.

My Lords, I understand that the first meeting of the EU-UK body to happen since the election is pencilled in for mid-January. Will there come a point between now and then when, if the Government have not heard from the Conservatives as to who their members will be, they will at least announce who the other nominated members will be, so that we can at least get started?

I am conscious that this is a Question about the Council of Europe, but I can see the connection, and noble Lords are right to use this opportunity to raise these kinds of questions. I genuinely hope that we do not have to get to that position and that we can get the complete delegation identified and the names shared with both the House and Europe as soon as possible.

My Lords, in the 10 years when I was very happily a member of the delegation to the Council of Europe, one of the most important functions that we had was to appoint the judges to the European Court of Human Rights. Can the Minister tell us whether the Government are giving any advice to the delegation in this respect?

We have not as yet, because, as noble Lords will know, the delegation has only very recently been identified. The noble Baroness is right to say that that is one of the key functions of the parliamentary assembly, and we will look at who will be the best person both for the Council of Europe and the priority that the UK places on the important role of the European Court of Human Rights. We will take the appropriate action when the time comes.

My Lords, as a former member of the committee of the Council of Europe that chose the judges, I suggest to my noble friend the Minister that the committee would be wary if there were undue pressure from the Government on the members in relation to the selection.

That is quite right. I hope that I chose my words sufficiently carefully in my previous answer. Perhaps the term “appropriate action” is where I should have placed a little more emphasis. My noble friend is correct to remind me and other noble Lords of that fact.