My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Popat, for his explanation of this instrument. I also listened with great interest to the speeches of the
noble Baroness, Lady Miller, and the noble Lord, Lord Avebury. I will make a couple of general points before coming on to the particulars of this agreement.
First, it is a good thing that the British Parliament has this opportunity to ratify this agreement. It is often said about the European Union that things are imposed upon us against our will. This is a case where we, as Parliament, have to ratify this agreement. That is a good thing. Our Ministers agreed to the opening of negotiations, originally under the Labour Government in 2007, for what was then hoped to be the Andean pact. Ministers have all along supported the Trade Commissioner of the European Commission in pursuing this agreement. Parliament is involved and the Government are involved. This is not imposed by Brussels.
Secondly, I think that there is a general view on all sides of the House and across the United Kingdom that free trade is a good thing and brings benefits all round. The noble Lord, Lord Popat, outlined what those economic benefits are; modest perhaps, but worth while from a European point of view, in the case of these agreements. Free trade has been part of the British progressive tradition ever since the repeal of the Corn Laws in the middle of the 19th century. Business has not always been a strong defender of free trade, though. Joseph Chamberlain wanted the imperial preference as a result of pressure from West Midlands manufacturers who wanted protection. Similarly, in the 1930s there was a lot of protectionist pressure. Generally speaking, however, business has supported free trade, as have the trade unions, on the principle that it brings economic benefits all round. But while free trade brings clear income gains to all the countries that participate in free trade agreements, such an agreement does not in itself ensure that the income gains are fairly distributed within those countries or that the wider questions of democracy and human rights are guaranteed. That is where the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, is 100% right.
My third general observation is that being members of the EU and negotiating these agreements through the European Union gives us enormous potential clout. You have only to look at what happened just this weekend. The Government in Ukraine are tottering because of a free trade agreement that the European Union had signed with Ukraine, but which the Government have decided not to implement. That is an example of how free trade agreements can be a force for democracy and political change. But we have a responsibility as members of the EU and thus part of what is the most powerful trade bloc in the world to use our economic power as much as we can to promote democracy and human rights.
I am not familiar with the situation in Peru in the way that the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, is, but certainly Colombia has had an appalling human rights record. According to one UN source, there have been some 4,716 complaints about extrajudicial killings by the Colombian army. It is country where the rule of law falls well short of European standards and one where trade unionists have been subject to systematic violence and murder. The record in Colombia shows an appalling number of motorbike assassinations of community
and trade union activists. Given that, what should we do? If we wash our hands of any kind of economic relationship with countries like Colombia and Peru, we are not advancing the interests of their people. We can pass resolutions of protest at congresses and in committees, and we can try to make such countries international pariahs, although I think if we tried that we would find that there are an awful lot of international pariahs in this world in the form of countries that do not reach the standards we set for ourselves. Indeed, the Prime Minister is presently in a country with, let us say, a poor record of respect for the rights of trade union organisation, free collective bargaining and individual liberty. We cannot go around the world treating countries as pariahs for these reasons. The question is how we use our engagement to try to make things better.
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The European Union was right to open the negotiations for the Andean pact—I think I ought to declare an interest, because I was closely associated with the Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson when this decision was taken—and right to see what commitments could be obtained. The question is whether, as a result of these agreements, we have made progress on human rights and trade union rights.
Our socialist colleagues in the European Parliament did not think enough progress had been made. That was after a visit by the current President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, to Colombia. Last December, the Socialist Group, in the main, including the British Labour MEPs, voted against the ratification of these deals in the European Parliament. However, a majority of the European Parliament approved the deal, and member states approved it too and are set on this agreement’s ratification. What should we do now? Some Labour colleagues in the other place take the view that we should make a gesture of protest against this agreement. My view, and I think that of the Official Opposition, is that we must do our best to ensure that the protections and safeguards in the agreement are used to the maximum extent. One of the innovations in the agreement was, as I understand it, provision for the European Parliament to be involved in the monitoring of human rights in these countries.
I end with a number of serious questions. If the Minister cannot answer them now, I would be grateful for written replies about how the Government propose to ensure that this agreement is implemented and that the safeguards in it are used to the full.
In the other place, my shadow Business Secretary colleague, Ian Murray, called for a human rights report to be produced before the Commons vote on the approval of this order on Wednesday. Can the Minister tell us what is likely to be in this report, and assess the latest human rights situation? There has been news of further killings of community and trade union activists in the last month, and this is causing a lot of concern, because we had hoped that the situation was improving; it may not be.
Secondly, what steps will the British Government be taking to ensure that the monitoring provisions in these agreements—the role of the European Parliament and all of that—are taken seriously, and that there is
proper reporting on the human rights situation in these countries? Thirdly, will the Government initiate, possibly at European Union level, a review of the relationship between trade policy and the promotion of ILO 4standards and human rights monitoring and enforcement? We need to think about what the relationship should be between trade policy and these questions and about what part questions of human rights, trade union rights and social rights should play in the enthusiasm—which we on this side of the Committee certainly share—for more free trade agreements to be concluded by the EU, as a key dimension of our economic reform agenda for Europe.
What are the Government’s objectives here? How do they see the trade-offs and what alliances are they going to build? It may be difficult for the Minister to answer these questions today but I hope that they will be given proper consideration. I do not think we can close our eyes to the human rights issues that occur daily in these countries. We have to be in a position where we can use what leverage we have to improve the situation—a leverage which at least has some significance because of our membership of the European Union. I would be grateful for replies.