European Communities (Employment in the Civil Service) Order 2007

My Lords, that might have thrown my honourable friend in the other place in those terms and he was able to concentrate a little less. However, I am able to concentrate more, and, as the noble Lord reiterated the questions, I will certainly do my best to respond to them. We think that about 5 per cent of the posts in the Civil Service will be reserved. That indicates to the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, that the issue is being tackled. I will come to his particular position with regard to the Permanent Secretary in just a moment. I have answers to the specific questions asked by the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley. I cannot say how many Irish nationals were prevented from joining the Northern Ireland Civil Service since 1996. I would not expect the Civil Service to collect negative information, as it were. I can look at the issue further and produce the best answer possible, but I do not have a figure because it is, in a sense, a negative question. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, asked about one particular group of nationals who are very important—Turkish nationals, who are not members of the European Community. The order applies to Turkish nationals, who are subject to additional conditions found in Article 6 of Decision 1/80 of the Association Council of the European Commission. Basically, a Turkish national must initially have a work permit. After a year, he or she can apply for renewal of the work permit. After three years, he or she can take up a job with another employer. Free access is granted only after four years of legal employment. Apart from two employees attached to the United Kingdom embassy and consulates in Turkey, to the best of our knowledge, no Turkish nationals are currently employed in the Civil Service. The noble Lord asked a more general question about what the British got out of this and whether there was reciprocity. The noble Lord, Lord Wallace, addressed himself to that as well. The answer is ““Not directly””, in the sense that some states are more extensive in their provision for foreign nationals than we will be under the order. Some are considerably less so, particularly those who joined the European Community more recently. It would outweigh the patience of the House if I went through the full list of categories for every member of the European Community. I emphasise that reciprocity is the principle on which we work and what we seek to obtain. In the large employing states in the European Union who have been members for a considerable time that is largely so. Of course, there will be exceptions. Knowing his background, I should have anticipated the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, but I did not. He produced one brilliant illustration, asking, ““What if a person is in one categorisation in one state and an entirely different categorisation in another, as professors are in Germany?””. I do not think that the British Government are in a position to revolutionise the German higher education system at a stroke. He will recognise that there is a long historic reason why that position obtains in Germany.