Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Lyell (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 11 March 2008.

EU: Constitutional Treaty

Question: My Lords, I am very grateful for and fascinated by the noble Baroness’s Answer, but will she be kind enough to enlighten me on why the Foreign Affairs Committee of another place pointed out to people such as me that there is no material difference between the constitutional treaty and the Lisbon treaty? The Foreign Secretary, no less, thought there should be a referendum to approve the first, but on the second he has apparently changed his mind. What caused him to change his mind?

Answer: My Lords, I am delighted to fascinate the noble Lord. I shall make clear what was said in another place, by quoting the chairman of the committee in another place, who said that what was in the report was different from what the noble Lord said—that what matters is whether the new treaty produces an effect which is substantially different from the constitutional treaty.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 699 c1391
Session: 2007-08
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Constitutions European Union European Constitution Treaty EU reform Referendums Treaties Treaty of Lisbon
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk