The Treaty of Lisbon

The hot issue in Parliament this month is the second reading of the EU Amendment Bill, which aims to replace the draft constitution that was rejected by the Dutch and French in 2005.  Despite claims to the contrary, the new EU Amendment Bill, also called the Lisbon Treaty is not, however, another attempt at a constitution.  Rather it is a Treaty to improve the effectiveness of the EU by reforming its institutions to reflect the reality of having 27 member states.  

The Treaty strengthens the role of national parliaments by giving them a direct say in the EU’s law-making procedures for the first time.  The leaders of the EU Member States currently meet around four times a year at what are called European Councils to agree policies and action in a range of areas.  At the moment each country, as President of the Council, takes it in turn to chair these meetings for six months. But these frequent changes inevitably mean a lack of consistency and follow-through and don’t help the EU to work effectively.  The Treaty will also introduce a new, fairer system of voting. This system is more closely based on population size than the current systems and will give the UK a bigger say. 

Respect for our British “red lines” is fully reflected in the Treaty. They protect our labour and social legislation; protect our common law system, and our police and judicial processes; maintain our independent foreign and defence policy; and protect our tax and social security system.  But rather than purely focus on what we have opted out of I believe it is also important to focus on what we stand to gain from the Treaty.  The purpose of the EU is to deal with issues that cannot effectively be solved by one country alone.  Efforts to tackle issues such as climate change, children’s rights, people trafficking and organised crime are universally welcomed yet Britain alone cannot take effective action to deal with these issues.  They are issues that override national borders and can only be dealt with by international co-operation.  The Lisbon Treaty will better enable the EU to deal with these issues and it is for this reason that it is welcomed by all the leading charities and NGO’s. 

However, this is not to say that I am uncritical of the EU.  I believe that it has spent far too much time talking about itself, its institutions and its structures and not enough time focusing on the issues that are really important to people and it is for this very reason that I believe in the importance of this Treaty.  Ratification will put an end to all talk of institutional reform and will allow the EU to address the issues for which it is intended.  The sooner it does this the better it will be for all of us.

 If you live in Brown Edge, Endon and Stanley or in Bagnall and would like to know more about the Treaty of Lisbon, then please get in touch.

www.joanwalleymp.org.uk