Lisbon Treaty — Disapproves of the government's policy towards the Lisbon Treaty in relation to energy — rejected — 30 Jan 2008 at 17:10

The majority No voters rejected an amendment^[1] that would have disapproved of Governmental policy concerning energy provisions within the Treaty of Lisbon.

The amendment noted that the Government had previously "demanded the deletion of a new article on energy when it was first proposed as part of the EU Constitution" and effectively accused the Government of backtracking. As such, the point under debate is of limited importance, however, in as much as the amendment attempted to hinder the passage of the European Union (Amendment) Bill it can be seen as an attempt to limit the further integration of Britain with the European Union.

The European Union (Amendment) Bill implements the Lisbon Treaty into UK law. The main aims of the Lisbon Treaty were to^[2]:

• 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] Alan Duncan MP, House of Commons, 30 January 2008
• [2] BBC News Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, 5 February 2010

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