Lisbon Treaty — Approves of the government's policy towards the Lisbon Treaty with regards to foreign affairs — 20 Feb 2008 at 16:15

The majority Aye voters successfully approved^[1] the Government's policy towards the Treaty of Lisbon in respect of the Treaty's provisions concerning foreign, security and defence policy.

This was thus a further step along the road of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty and promoting closer European integration.

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] David Miliband MP, House of Commons, 20 February 2008
• [2] BBC News Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, 5 February 2010

Debate in Parliament | Source |