Lisbon Treaty — Enshrine the Lisbon Treaty into UK law — 27 Feb 2008 at 19:00

The majority Aye voters successfully carried the motion^[1] that Clause 2 of the European Union (Amendment) Bill should remain in the Bill. This clause enshrines the Lisbon Treaty into UK law by modifying the European Communities Act 1972.

This was thus a further step along the road of ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon 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] Motion on Clause 2, House of Commons, 27 February 2008
• [2] BBC News Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, 5 February 2010

Debate in Parliament | Source |