*Caroline to use speech in Parliament today to spell out ‘simple steps’ the UK Government could take to make the EU more accountable.

Caroline will present a cross-party bill in Parliament today aiming to give British Parliamentarians more power to scrutinise the European Union. [1]

The Ten Minute Rule Bill, which will be presented later this afternoon, outlines reforms which the British Government could enact ‘overnight’ to make the EU more accountable. The Bill has attracted high-profile support from MPs from Labour, the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and others. [2]

Caroline will challenge those who claim that the EU is unreformable, claiming that simple steps could be taken to democratise it. [3]

Ahead of presenting the Bill she said:

“Brexiteers claim that the EU is ‘unreformable’ but that’s palpably untrue. Not only have past reforms strengthened democracy in the EU but Ministers have the power in their hands to make Europe much more accountable to the British public.”

Caroline’s Bill –signed by former Labour Shadow Europe Minister Pat McFadden, Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats and the SNPs Europe Spokesperson Stephen Gethins - includes a number of proposals to make the EU more accountable. Provisions include:

• A ‘green card’ system whereby MPs can propose European laws
• Giving the UK Parliament the ability to scrutinise the Government's negotiating position before European Council meetings.
• Strengthening the House of Commons’ EU committee structure to give MPs more time to scrutinise European laws.

Caroline went on to say:

 “The Bill I’m presenting today contains a number of simple ways in which the British Government could make the EU more accountable. There is so much that we could and should be doing here in the UK to make the EU work better for Britons. The idea that we have no power to change our relationship with the EU is just plain wrong.

“The reforms I’m outlining today won’t, in themselves, save the EU from the crisis of accountability it’s facing. But they would help. They will rebalance power – and assist in rebuilding trust in an institution that has been shaken in recent years.”

ENDS

Contact: Matthew Butcher on 07885 459 904 or clucasmedia@parliament.uk

[1] The Ten Minute Rule Bill’s full title is TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY (EUROPEAN UNION): TEN MINUTE RULE MOTION

It is likely to be heard at around 4.30-5pm in the House of Commons.

[2] MPs who have signed the Bill: 

Pat McFadden (Labour, former Shadow Europe Minister)

Caroline Spelman (Conservatives)

Tim Farron (Lib Dems)

Stephen Gethins (SNP)

Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru)

Margaret Ritchie (SDLP)

Graham Allen (Labour)

Stephen Kinnock (Labour)

[3] Theresa Villiers told a Vote Leave event in Glasgow that the EU was “all about creating a country called Europe”. She said the six years she spent in Brussels as an MEP convinced her that the EU was “unreformable”.

Michael Gove:

“The EU is an institution rooted in the past and is proving incapable of reforming to meet the big technological, demographic and economic challenges of our time.”