Lisbon Treaty — Exclude the European Union from regulating the conservation of marine biological resources — rejected — 26 Feb 2008 at 23:00

The majority No voters rejected an amendment^[1] to the European Union (Amendment) Bill. If passed the amendment would have excluded the European Union (EU) from regulating the conservation of marine biological resources.

The Treaty of Lisbon asserts that the European Union shall have "exclusive competence" in the areas of:^[2]

• customs union;
• the establishing of the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market;
• monetary policy for the Member States whose currency is the euro;
• the conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy;
• common commercial policy.

This claim will become part of UK law by virtue of the passage of the European Union Amendment Bill^[3] which will include it it into the list of treaties included in the European Communities Act 1972.

The European Union (Amendment) Bill implements the Lisbon Treaty into UK law. 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] Angus Robertson MP, House of Commons, 26 February 2008
• [2] Lisbon Treaty, Page 53, new Article 2B
• [3] European Union Amendment Bill, Clause 2
• [4] BBC News Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, 5 February 2010

Debate in Parliament | Source |