Lisbon Treaty — Disapproves of the government's policy towards the Lisbon Treaty with regards to the European Union's institutions — rejected — 26 Feb 2008 at 19:35

The majority No voters rejected an amendment^[1] that would have shown the House's disapproval of "the Government's policy towards the Treaty of Lisbon in respect of the provisions on the effectiveness of European Union institutions and decision-making."

The amendment argued that the Lisbon Treaty expanded "the power of EU institutions at Member States' expense by replacing the rotating presidency of the European Council with a permanent President, giving the EU a single legal personality, abolishing national vetoes in more than fifty areas and entrenching marine biological resources as an exclusive EU competence."

However, Jim Murphy MP argued that the Treaty "will allow the existing EU institutions to function more effectively and with more accountability to the member states,"^[2] and "provides new powers for national Parliaments; more effective decision making where it is in the UK's interests; and explicitly sets out the EU's competences—and where those competences end—for the first time."^[3]

The main aims of the Lisbon Treaty were to^[4]:

• Streamline EU institutions
• Establish a permanent President of the European Council (as of 16 March 2010 held by Herman Van Rompuy)
• Establish the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (as of 16 March 2010 held by Catherine Ashton)
• Give new powers to the EU over justice and home affairs
• Remove the national veto in some areas such as energy security and emergency aid

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• [1] William Hague MP, House of Commons, 26 February 2008
• [2] Jim Murphy MP, House of Commons, 26 February 2008
• [3] Jim Murphy MP, House of Commons, 26 February 2008
• [4] BBC News Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, 5 February 2010

Debate in Parliament | Source |