EU Constitution Referendum — 30 Mar 2004 at 18:45

I beg to move,

That this House believes that the draft European Constitution constitutes a fundamental change to the relationship between the European Union and the Member States and should only be ratified if the British people have freely consented to it in a referendum.

I beg to move, To leave out from "House" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:

"welcomes the intensified scrutiny of both Houses in respect of the draft Constitutional Treaty; believes that the Government's policy of active engagement within the EU is in Britain's national interests; supports its constructive approach to discussions within the Intergovernmental Conference to ensure that an enlarged Union works effectively; endorses paragraph 66 of the White Paper (Cm 5934) in respect of issues which must remain the province of the nation state; notes that provided there is a satisfactory outcome on these and other matters of concern, the proposals currently being discussed would not alter the fundamental constitutional relationship between the member states and the Union and therefore does not believe there is reason to depart from previous practice for constitutional treaties; and reaffirms the primacy of Parliament to decide on whether any future Constitutional Treaty should become part of UK law."

Question put, That the original words stand part of the Question:-

The House divided: Ayes 212, Noes 328.

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |