Council must uphold right to a family life.

Speech by Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP delivered to The European Parliament on Wed 16th Nov 2005

Question by Elspeth Attwooll

Subject: Brides Without Borders

The UK Government is seeking to oblige many British women to leave the UK so that they join husbands refused residence rights. They are told that it is safe to settle in countries such as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Congo and Burundi, although such countries are deemed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office or US State Department as being dangerous for Western visitors and/or in breach of fundamental rights.

How is this practice compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, especially the right to a family life, the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights and Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union?

Douglas Alexander, President-in-Office of the Council. - The Council has never debated this question and it is not within the sphere of its competence.

Elspeth Attwooll (ALDE). - I must say that I find the lack of any legal justification in terms of European Community law and the European Convention on Human Rights somewhat distressing. There is little to reassure me about the welfare of my constituents.

The President-in-Office will be aware that, since February 2005, non-EU/EEA nationals have to obtain Home Office permission to get married in the United Kingdom. Its effect is that we are talking about a limited number of couples.

Would the President-in-Office be prepared at least to convey to his Home Office colleagues my request that an amnesty be granted to such couples, at least where it is recognised that there is a genuine and subsisting relationship, and that the requirement to travel to the country of origin in order to apply for spousal residence be waived?

Douglas Alexander, President-in-Office of the Council. - I can assure the honourable Member that I have concerns for the welfare and interests of her constituents, not least because we share constituents, representing as I do the constituents of Paisley and Renfrewshire South in Scotland.

I am respectful of her experience, not least in the field of constitutional law, but I would simply state what seems to me an obvious point, i.e. that my responsibilities today are not to explain or to articulate the position of the British Government in relation to this particular policy issue, but instead to outline the position of the European Union Presidency of which Britain holds the chair at the moment.

I would therefore be perfectly content if the honourable Member would wish to write to me on a bilateral basis on the specific points that she has raised in order that we could ensure that a reply be directed towards the Home Office in the United Kingdom. But I would hesitate to go further than that, given that it is not really the appropriate focus for our discussions in this Chamber this afternoon.

Sarah Ludford (ALDE). - I note that in relation to the question on alcohol guidelines the Minister commented on UK practice, so I am sure he is prepared to do so on this subject: does this practice in the UK not jar with EU free movement rules in the developing concept of European citizenship?

If one of my constituents who has been caught by the new rule and whose marriage is accepted by the government moves to France, she would have the right to have her husband with her. So, the bizarre effect is that couples get greater protection of their right to family life in an EU country other than their own. There is a strong European dimension to this, so I believe it is apt to ask the UK Minister to answer as Presidency.

Douglas Alexander, President-in-Office of the Council. - Well, Mr President, it was a valiant attempt in the supplementary to try and draw us into a discussion of Britain's domestic policy, but I think the appropriate response, and one which is genuinely respectful to this Chamber, is to address ourselves to the points that have been raised in responding as the Presidency.

I have already made an offer to one of the Member's parliamentary colleagues that if she wishes to write directly to me, I will facilitate the correspondence being passed on to the Home Office in the United Kingdom, but I think, not least given the constraints of time always upon us during Question Time, it is important that we focus on questions to the Council at this stage, rather than to continue what is an appropriate discussion within respective Member States.