Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Wayne David (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 9 November 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

EU Treaties

Question: Given the promises made in the Conservative party manifesto, will the Foreign Secretary tell the House whether the Government will be bringing forward proposals to repatriate powers from the European Union? Yes or no?

Answer: The Government's position is set out in the coalition agreement. What is also clear from that agreement is that one of our top priorities in Europe is to bring realism to budgeting in the European Union since his party gave away many billions of pounds of the British taxpayer's money for nothing in return the last time the financial perspective was negotiated, in 2005. The answer to his question is that our top priority in seeking change in the European Union is to ensure realistic budgeting in the future.

Secondary information