November 1999

The big debate in Brussels just now is about enlargement - the process by which another ten countries will join the existing fifteen Member States within the next decade, many of them becoming full members in only five years' time. The countries lining up to join are Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria. Already, half a billion Euros of our tax is being paid each year to these countries, to help them make the necessary adjustments to prepare for full EU membership.

Many people in the UK complain that these Central and East European countries will absorb all of the grants and subsidies which we currently enjoy and in return, will flood us with cheaply produced goods, undercutting our markets and destroying jobs. They are well off the mark! Although it is inevitable that much of the structural funding and farm subsidies which we have benefited from in the past will drift from the west to the east, it remains the case that out of the ten countries waiting to join the EU, only Hungary and Romania are net exporters of food. All the rest are net importers. So, as their standard of living rises to match the rest of us, so will demand for more and more consumer products from the west. This is a huge opportunity for us to identify and sell Scottish products to a vast new marketplace.

While the beef war with France and Germany looks set to continue into the foreseeable future, we should grasp this opportunity to open up new markets for quality Scotch beef and lamb in these Central and Eastern European countries. As well as a wide range of foodstuffs, there will be a growing demand for agricultural equipment, intellectual property, consultancy services and a host of other commercial opportunities. I hope the NFU, CBI, Chambers of Commerce and others are on top of this. They must get over to these countries now and make the contacts which will open up this huge trading opportunity for Scotland. The Germans are already beavering away, signing up ten year contracts to supply Poland with a variety of agricultural produce. So let's stop moaning about enlargement and ensure we make it work to Scotland's advantage.

It is now ten years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and high time that enlargement is allowed to take place. But I am not happy with Commission President Romano ProdiÕs vision of the new enlarged EU. He is obsessed with integration and harmonisation which, if we are not careful, would create a new Iron Curtain of protectionism around the whole of Europe, isolating the EU from the global market and all the potential benefits that brings. Costly harmonisation and regulation of taxes, legal systems, working practices and even European defence, would lead to an increasingly inward-looking and uncompetitive Europe. We don't want a United States of Europe. We want to be members of a 'Common Market', a vast trading community which brings jobs and prosperity to each Member State.

We must demand that the new, enlarged EU embraces the concept of flexibility. While I recognise that every Member State must accept the rights and responsibilities of the single market and core elements of an open, free trading and competitive Europe, nevertheless, outside that core there should be a new treaty provision to allow countries not to participate in new legislative actions at EU level, where they prefer to handle these at national level. This would mean that countries could avoid having legislation imposed upon them by other countries against their will. This is surely the only way in which a new, enlarged EU with twenty five Member States will be able to work effectively.

Talking about the French and German beef ban makes my blood boil. How pathetic that UK Agriculture Minister Nick Brown allowed himself to be duped by the French. It was obvious from the start that the French Government would not abide by the ruling of the Scientific Steering Committee, even although it was unanimous. Now we must start the tedious process of taking legal action against both France and Germany through the European Courts. This could take years and in the meantime, the damage to our world-wide reputation as beef producers continues. It is outrageous that these two countries can claim to be at the heart of Europe when they treat the European Commission and the UK with such contempt.