eu reform treaty
| Britain powerless to lose further vetoes in EU constitution, say ... The Tories said the small print of the draft 'reform treaty' would allow the EU to extend its powers further in the future, without having to draw up any ... www.dailymail.co.uk/.../Britain-powerless-lose-vetoes-EU-con... Britain powerless to lose further vetoes in EU constitution, say ToriesBy JAMES CHAPMAN 02 August 2007  Bad move: Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain is already surrendering its right to block proposals from Brussels in more than 60 policy areas Britain could surrender the right to veto diktats from Brussels in a vast range of new areas under the terms of the revived European constitution, has it emerged. The Tories said the small print of the draft 'reform treaty' would allow the EU to extend its powers further in the future, without having to draw up any new agreement. Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Britain is already surrendering its right to block proposals from Brussels in more than 60 policy areas - including transport, energy and migration. But he warned that a little-noticed "ratchet clause" in the treaty would also allow the EU to abolish vetoes in almost all other areas. Member states would not have to ratify a new agreement even in their national parliaments, but would simply have to notify MPs of what was happening, he said. "All vetoes other than over defence can be abolished by agreements between European governments in future, without having to go through the whole process of negotiating a fresh treaty or ratifying that in any formal way," Mr Hague said. He scorned the Government's claim that it had protected all of its "red lines" in discussions about the controversial blueprint, and that constitutional elements had been dropped since the last attempt at reform had to be shelved in 2005. Read more... Mr Hague said almost all European leaders, other than British ministers, now admitted the reform treaty was "predominantly and overwhelmingly the same" as the EU constitution, which was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands, and on which Labour promised a referendum. "The red lines are unravelling by the day, every time we get more detail about this,"' he said. "For instance there is a declaration attached to the treaty that is supposed to protect our independence in foreign policy but it now turns out that is not legally binding." He said the opt-out negotiated by the Government on the controversial EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which would guarantee the right to strike, would only extend to "certain areas of law. Its validity was anyway disputed by the European Court of Justice, he said. His warning came as a leading EU legal expert, Dr Alan Riley, said the revived constitution would open the gates to protectionism since a commitment to protecting competition had been relegated to the footnotes. "Gordon Brown, already under pressure for trying to avoid a referendum, needs to insist that the principle of undistorted competition returns to the main body of the text," Dr Riley, of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, said. "If he can't win this argument, then the most pro-European act Mr Brown could do is to veto the treaty to protect the single market and European competitiveness." The Tories - and a number of Labour MPs - are demanding Gordon Brown gives way and offers voters a say on the new treaty in a referendum. Former Labour minister Gisela Stuart, who helped draw up the original constitution, says all its "big items" are preserved in the draft treaty, which must be subject to a vote. But the Government claims it has signed up to a 'UK version' of the treaty and that the constitutional elements of the 2005 agreement have been abandoned. Europe minister Jim Murphy insisted: "We wouldn't sign up to any treaty that transferred in any significant way, any UK sovereignty to the European Union." Mr Brown has accused the Conservatives of returning to their 'old agenda' by demanding a referendum on Europe. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-472721/Britain-powerless-lose-vetoes-EU-constitution-say-Tories.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0nQRqyDl6 |
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