Lisbon Treaty — Clause on 'parliamentary control of decisions' to remain in the Bill — 4 Mar 2008 at 22:30

The majority Aye voters passed a motion^[1] that confirmed the clauses on 'parliamentary control of decisions' (clause 6) and 'short title' (clause 7) should remain in the European Union (Amendment) Bill.

Clause 6 outlines which decisions made at the European Union (EU) level would have to be approved by parliament. This mainly relates to the passerelle clauses which enables the EU to make decisions on certain policy areas via qualified majority voting rather than unanimity.

The Tories were opposed to this clause because they felt that ministers:

• 'in referring to clause 6, which is entitled "Parliamentary control of decisions", have tried to give the impression that what is happening here is a strengthening of parliamentary control. They refer to the fact that the House and the other place will have to vote on a motion to approve some of those changes, neglecting to point out that the status quo is that an Act of Parliament has to be passed to put through treaty changes.'^[2]

However, the government argued that:

• 'We went further in the Bill's provisions than any other Government anywhere in the European Union who are currently using the process of ratification. The Bill gives Parliament a power that is not given anywhere else in the treaty or for any of the passerelles: prior control over the Government's veto. The treaty does not give national Parliaments prior control of any passerelle decision and a parliamentary lock is set out in the treaty. The Bill also provides a parliamentary lock on six separate passerelles, which, under the treaty, have no parliamentary lock at all—'^[3]

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] Motion on Clause 6 and 7
• [2] Mark Harper MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008
• [3] Jim Murphy MP, House of Commons, 4 March 2008
• [4] BBC News Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty, 5 February 2010

Debate in Parliament | Source |