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Gareth Thomas MP, Labour’s Shadow Europe Minister, in a speech at Queen Mary University of London, said:

Labour is clear that Britain’s national interest lies in a reformed European Union but that we need to seize the opportunity for reform now.

I want today to set out why we should stay in a reformed EU, when reforms could and should be taking place, and our views on the specific reforms and new EU priorities that are needed.

If Britain is to grow stronger and fairer our continuing membership of a reformed European Union is essential.

Our influence on world events - from negotiations with Iran, preventing further conflict in the Ukraine - to tackling poverty in the world’s poorest countries or helping to manage the impact of climate change - is amplified by our membership of the European Union.

Our businesses are more competitive through having to operate in the Single Market, the biggest in the world, opening up 500 million plus customers to UK businesses and generating £11 trillion in economic activity.

Competing in this market with the best companies in the world helps drive competitiveness and innovation for firms in every part of our economy.

As the Director-General of the CBI John Cridland said recently:

“British business is unequivocal; the Single Market is fundamental to our future.“

“We are better off in a reformed EU than outside with no influence. Each year, membership is worth £3,000 to every household in this country.”

For us as consumers, the European Union has offered both opportunities and new protections.

Goods that pose a risk to consumers’ health or safety can be rapidly stopped from being sold across the European Union.

The single market has helped make air travel more affordable and now mobile phone charges are coming down thanks to a long running campaign by Labour MEPs led by Glenis Willmott backed by European Commission action on roaming charges abroad.

We’re safer too because of European co-operation in the fight against crime and terrorism.

And at a time when travel is far easier than it’s ever been, often criminal activity in one country, such as drug smuggling or people trafficking impacts more widely and international collaboration is essential.

That’s why European police co-operation is so important and why the Government’s decision to opt-out of EU co-operation on justice, crime and policing was so misguided.

The European Arrest Warrant has helped tackle the Costa Del Crime: 49 of the 65 top fugitives from justice in the UK who were living in southern Spain have now been returned to Britain to face trial, and one of the 21/7 bombers is back in the UK as a result of EU-wide cooperation.

Leaving the European Union would put these gains at risk.

Need for reform

But as Ed Miliband has made clear, Labour is clear that Europe does need to change.

The cost-of-living crisis in the UK, the scale of youth unemployment, the squeeze on incomes and the level of adult unemployment here and across many of the countries of the European Union ought to be powerful drivers for change in how the European Union works.

When you add in the need for greater accountability, the need for further efficiency savings and the need to improve the way the UK considers EU-wide matters, the case for change becomes overwhelming.

And those changes could and should be coming soon.

When could reform start?

After the European elections on May 22nd the process of appointing and agreeing an agenda for a new European Commission will begin.

Now and over the next 6 months until the new Commission starts work represents for the UK a reform ‘moment’ of significant potential:

• Potential to work with key allies to set out clear priorities for changing how the Commission operates and how accountable it is.

• Potential too to agree new priorities for what the Commission actually does in practice - to deliver economic growth - decent, well paid jobs and better living standards.

Yet David Cameron’s Government has chosen to put off until after the General Election next year any serious conversations - either with Parliament here or with our European neighbours and allies - about how to change Europe for the better.

Parliament, never mind the British people, hasn’t been given any detail about what our Prime Minister wants to really change about the European Union.

David Cameron is willing to squander this golden opportunity now to change Europe because he is afraid that what the UK might be able to achieve is still too far from what many in his Party are willing to accept.

John Major faced similar levels of division within the Conservative Party over Europe.

Rather than risk the divisions in his Party becoming overwhelming threats to his leadership, David Cameron would rather postpone serious discussion about reform until after the next General Election.

In other words the national interest is being put second to the Prime Minister’s narrow Party interest.

Reform within the UK on EU issues

But if reform is to be achieved and sustained across the European Union which benefits Britain, we first need to change the way in which our Parliament here considers EU issues.

I’ve been talking to colleagues around Europe and have been struck by the stronger role some countries like Sweden and Denmark give to their national parliaments when it comes to European policy making.

Much earlier debate about key EU-wide proposals is needed in Parliament, rather than discussing new ideas - as too often happens - after they are a long way into their journey through the Council of Ministers and European Parliament.

Crucial to this will be ensuring again that before EU Council meetings there is dedicated time allotted for debating the agenda of that Council.

David Cameron scrapped these debates leaving Parliament without the opportunity to raise concerns and put Ministers on the spot about their positions ahead of key Councils.

He may be running scared of his backbenchers on Europe, but he was wrong to scrap those key debates and we would reinstate them.

To help inform these debates and UK discussion of European matters more generally we would consult on whether to establish a dedicated European Union Affairs Select Committee to explore the EU’s role and response to a wide range of issues be they financial and budget questions or about particular aspects of the EU’s responsibilities.

As Douglas Alexander set out last year, we believe too that if a number of Parliaments across the EU reject a particular proposal from the Commission that that shouldn’t be ignored, that should stop the idea in its tracks.

This ‘Red Card’ could be implemented from the start of the next Commission if David Cameron persuaded other EU leaders to agree that the new Commission would work on this basis.

He should be starting those discussions now.

Instead he has decided to invest more capital negotiating with his own backbenchers than with the UK’s European allies.

Next UK Commissioner

The next EU Commissioner from the UK will have an important role, not only in the particular areas they lead on but more generally in promoting Britain’s national interest and vision for reform in Europe.

As the role of the EU changes, the job of our commissioner also grows in significance.

That is why Labour believes that it is important to ensure that Parliament is given the opportunity to scrutinise the Government’s chosen Commission candidate ahead of their nomination being confirmed.

In 2014, we need to see a candidate who is committed to the Commission prioritising an agenda of growth, jobs and better living standards, and who will be a champion for Britain in Brussels rather than a further sop to David Cameron’s right flank.

Commission Reform

The European Commission is run by its 28 Commissioners – one from each Member State, each with their own separate roles and responsibilities.

We need to open up a debate about whether the Commission works as effectively as it could do.

Labour has called for an EU Commissioner for Growth to be appointed and given the clear responsibility for championing policies that promote economic growth across every part of the Commission’s work and to be held accountable for this work by the Parliament and Council of Ministers.

Such a Commissioner for Growth needs to co-ordinate the work of other crucial economic Commissioners such as, for example, those with responsibility for encouraging Trade, Regional Policy and Markets.

But we should also consider whether the Commission structure as a whole needs to be reformed in order to ensure it works as efficiently and effectively as possible.

One proposal would be to establish senior Commissioner posts with responsibility for the co-ordination of a joined-up approach across a number of policy areas, potentially building on the role of Commission Vice Presidents, but ensuring the focus was on coordinating within specific policy briefs.

EU Budget

There also needs to be a further review of the EU’s budget to help release further savings and efficiencies. Labour MPs forced a vote in our Parliament demanding a reduction in the EU Budget, which helped persuade David Cameron to do the right thing in Brussels.

We have already made clear that John Major’s decision to allow the French request for the European Parliament to meet just 12 times a year in Strasbourg is a completely unjustifiable use of taxpayers’ money.
Scrapping this unnecessary second Parliament could save taxpayers upwards of 100 million Euros a year.

One key area that the new EU Commission should focus on is spending on EU agencies. These are distinct from the main EU institutions, working on specific technical, scientific or administrative tasks.

Many agencies do vital work in areas such as promoting free trade within the single market, helping tackle crime and terrorism across borders, and monitoring and advising on the actual implementation of EU laws and regulations.

But the number of EU agencies has significantly grown in recent years, and so has their total cost.

So in today’s tight financial climate, the EU should introduce a zero-based review of all EU expenditure on EU agencies to help ensure that any overlap, duplication or waste is addressed and tackled in light of their rapid expansion in both number and cost.

An agenda for Jobs and Growth

The next Commission and European Parliament need to prioritise an agenda of growth, jobs and higher living standards.

The European Commission, like the Government here, has for too much of the last four years been focused on championing austerity rather than growth.

If there are to be better standards of living here in the UK as well as elsewhere on the continent, a new drive for growth, jobs and higher living standards is now essential, and key institutions of the EU must change so they can play a strong role in such an agenda.

As I’ve already set out, a dedicated senior Commissioner for Growth is needed.

David Cameron and his government could be pressing our allies now to agree that such a position should be established.

His MEPs could be pressing for this in the European Parliament and he could be pursuing this through the European Council.

He is doing none of these things and a crucial moment to focus the next Commission on jobs and growth is being spurned.

Developing the Single Market further is crucial too, particularly in services, for expanding the potential for decent, well paid jobs to be created.

Developing a deeper Digital Single Market, too, could help to increase GDP across the European Union by up to four per cent by 2020, potentially generating up to four million jobs inside the European Union.

Given the growth in the British online hi-tech sector a growing digital single market offers real potential for British business, particularly SMEs.

As Ed Miliband has already announced, we will work with business organisations across the EU but particularly the CBI to champion expansion of the Single Market.

Progress has not been dramatic in the last four years so we will prioritise this area.

Labour will also do more to ensure that the EU plays its role in tackling the living standards crisis facing British families.

We will take action both in the UK and at EU level, to tackle low pay and insecurity in the work place, pressing for legislation to stamp out the unfair practices and abuses associated with Zero-Hour Contracts.

And we will work with British businesses at local and EU level to close loopholes in, for example, rules about agency workers that are being used to undercut the pay of non-agency staff.

Expanding the number of trade agreements with other crucial markets such as the United States and, in the longer term, possibly China, will be a priority too.

Helping to secure the EU-US Trade Deal - or TTIP as it’s called – could, according to the Centre for Economic Policy Research, help to generate an extra 545 Euros in disposable income each year for a family of four in the EU.

Shifting further expenditure away from traditional parts of EU expenditure such as farming and fisheries to support research and innovation where the next generation of jobs in the EU are likely to come from is also needed.

The European Union will, like many of its member States, including the UK, have to get used to doing more for less.

Britain’s future in a reformed Europe

As well as a clear agenda for reform, and a strategy for delivering it, Ed Miliband has set out Labour’s position on the issue of a referendum on our membership.

Labour is clear that Britain’s future lies at the heart of a reformed EU.

And Ed Miliband has already made clear that there are no current proposals – either from the UK or the the EU – for this reform to involve a further transfer of powers from Britain to Brussels.

But the British people know that given the possibility of what further integration in the Eurozone might involve, a further transfer of powers still remains possible.

That is why Labour has set out that, in government, we will legislate for a new ‘lock’ - which guarantees there would be no transfer of powers from the UK to the EU without a referendum on our continued membership of the EU.

So a reformed European Union is central to our ambition of a fairer, stronger Britain.

Negotiations should be underway now for a Growth Commissioner and greater accountability of the next Commission to the UK Parliament.

The tragedy for Britain is that, instead of championing this agenda, No 10 has been rendered silent by their own party divisions.

That is why it is left to Labour, over the coming months, to continue to champion a reform agenda for the European Union that is focused on delivering stronger EU wide growth, better jobs and improving living standards, and more accountability to the British people.