My Lords, I am most grateful for all the contributions that have been made. We have had a short but most interesting debate—indeed, a prelude to further consideration of the European adventure. These two EU measures, both of which provide for more citizen engagement in the EU, are of great benefit.
First, we discussed a measure to secure the long-term future of the EU institutions’ archives which takes account of the advances in record-keeping in an increasingly digital age. I was of course intrigued by the point of the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, about the substance of archives. For someone such as me, who is interested in history but extremely amateur, the point of the history book is when it hits on something that goes beyond the ordinary notes and into the most intriguing parts. Although I cannot answer the noble Lord precisely, I very much hope that he is right that
this will be an archive that historians will find of great value, not just for the agenda and minutes of the meetings but for the discussions and how they came to the decisions that they made. I will consider that and obviously come back to the noble Lord if I have anything of greater value to add, but I am with him on that.
The measure also reflects the flexibility required in introducing digital archiving and accordingly avoids prescribing technical solutions, which would not allow for rapidly evolving technologies. Approving this measure would contribute to ensuring the transparency and scrutiny of the EU. I was particularly taken by the point that my noble friend Lady Falkner of Margravine made about transparency because the Government definitely support the general principle of transparency, both domestically and within the European Union. I wish that I was able to comment more fully or specifically on the minutes of the European Central Bank but I very much hope that it will continue to make as much of its archive available as possible because that, again, plays into what the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, was saying about the importance of archives.
This also reflects our own Government’s priority in using digital platforms as a means of facilitating contact between citizens and public institutions. Again, my noble friend Lady Falkner of Margravine mentioned the engagement of young people and I endorse very much the concern that she raised. However, we need to remember that there are young people coming forward who need to know more. One of the great advances with digital platforms is that I very much hope that they will be a medium that young people will find more user-friendly. It is this digital technology which provides the means for bringing people of all generations more closely together, an aspect of today’s world that is very much to be welcomed. I saw this for myself in a recent visit to the outstanding National Archives at Kew, which certainly opened my eyes to the scope and opportunities that these advances provide.
Perhaps I may turn to the Europe for Citizens programme, which should be seen in the same context. I hesitated at what my noble friend Lord Renton of Mount Harry said about the contradiction because this programme will run from next year to 2020 for all of Europe, and I see this as a positive. Whatever decisions the British electorate may or may not make about the position of this country in Europe, I believe that from 2014 to 2020 there is a great citizens’ programme across all the nation states, which is of value to this country and to the citizens of all the countries. I do not see it as a contradiction in that way. This is a positive, whatever happens.
It is particularly poignant at this moment to commemorate those in the two world wars and their lives, and many of your Lordships have been much involved in that. There are certainly many communities up and down the land involved in town twinning. I know that they come from all generations and all countries. Again, this is a very positive part of where taxpayers’ money is going. It is going, through the European institutions, towards this being a rewarding exercise.
This is a real opportunity for civil society organisations. To pick up on something that my noble friend Lady Falkner of Margravine said, we encourage a much more positive engagement at institutional and local level for citizens of all ages. I particularly go back to young people who have ideals. Having many ideals about the common values that are shared is an important part of the European adventure, so I very much hope that this programme will be seen as an opportunity. I very much agree with the point that the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, made about the opportunities. I also hope that this Bill will not take too much time because, in the end, this is a measure that we need to get through to enable the important work to begin for 2014.
If there are any points that I have not answered, I will come back to noble Lords but I believe that these two measures will definitely benefit citizens across the European Union. I commend the Bill to your Lordships and ask your Lordships to give it a Second Reading.