Douglas Carswell's Blog

Calling Eurocrats to account

Ministers keep telling us that because Britain is outside the Euro, we are exempt from any of the new treaty arrangements agreed to with Brussels. This new deal is not, they say, a transfer of power affecting Britain. So no need for a referendum. Phew. 

The only problem is that the small print of what has been agreed to seems to suggest otherwise. At best sloppily drafted, the text talks of a “new legal framework ..... applying to all EU Member States”. What part of all excludes Britain?

To find out what the situation really is, I am proposing that the UK’s chief diplomat in Brussels appear before the House of Commons to explain the position - and have a good number of fellow MPs support the motion.

While not a conventional approach, perhaps we need a little verve and imagination if we are to stop the same old pattern when it comes to Europe. First, we are told that such and such proposal won’t affect us and we’ve nothing to worry about. Later, we get to hear that it is all actually a done deal – and didn’t we know it was all agreed to ages ago.

Besides, surely it is time for the Commons to get off its knees and start to hold officials to account? It might actually help ministers confronted by the inertia and self-interest of the permanent bureaucracy.

On Monday, the government announced plans to make senior officials more directly accountable to the rest of us. Calling British Eurocrats to explain themselves before the Commons should be part of that accountability agenda.

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TEXT of Commons motion: 

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