The pavements of Lisbon may be famously black and white, writes Kate White, but the EU treaty named after the Portuguese capital is anything but.
The 271-page tome, which strengthens EU power over Westminster, has chapters with horrendously wordy names and minimal punctuation, like:
“Protocol on the Decision of the Council relating to the implementation of Article 9c(4) of the Treaty on European Union and Article 205(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union between 1 November 2014 and 31 March 2017 on the one hand, and as from 1 April 2017 on the other.”
Oh hello! Still here? Congratulations. I’ve probably lost most of you by now. But if you did stick it out, nice one – because this is actually pretty important.
When Eurosceptic President Klaus of Czechoslovakia put pen to paper and signed the Lisbon Treaty on November 3, it meant all 27 of the EU member states had signed up and the treaty became law on December 1.
The news prompted a rehash of the legendary Jacques Delors headline from the Sun newspaper – Delors as in, the Frenchman who attempted to force another such treaty on Britain in 1991, prompting the blinder, “Up yours, Delors!” This time round, the Sun directed its wrath at Gordon Brown. “Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Up yours!” boomed the front page. “Britain betrayed as hated EU treaty is finally made law.” As with all sequels, it’s unlikely to become a classic. But it definitely gets the point across in that inimitable Sun way.
So has Gordon landed us well and truly in the brown stuff? Well, instead of holding the EU referendum that voters were promised by Labour, he went ahead and did it anyway – which hacked off a lot of people.
The treaty – in various different forms – has already been thrown out twice. The French and the Dutch rejected it in 2005, and then the Irish (the only country allowed a referendum) in 2008. But now it has been ratified, creating the first president of Europe. Britain loses its right to veto new EU rules in more than 40 policy areas, including climate change and energy. But member states still need unanimity to pass laws on tax, defence and foreign policy.
The idea is that the treaty will allow the EU to operate more efficiently and give it greater standing on the world’s stage. But critics say it surrenders too much of Britain’s sovereignty to Brussels. The Tories called it “a bad day for British democracy” and David Cameron pledged a law to prevent further transfer of power to the EU without a referendum.
A few countries have secured opt-outs. Czechoslovakia has made sure it will not be exposed to claims on property by Germans expelled from the country after World War Two. Poland has opted out of legislation covering issues like same-sex marriage and abortion.
And Britain has secured a written guarantee that the Charter cannot alter British labour law or other laws dealing with social rights. It has also opted out of European policies concerning asylum, visas and immigration.
Nevertheless, the Lisbon Treaty means Brussels wields far more power over Britain than ever before.
