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Foreign Affairs and Defence

Yes, the people of Gibraltar will have the opportunity to participate, which reflects the situation relating to European elections that has existed for some time now. I welcome the discussions on the treaty that we have begun to have, in a nascent form, this morning. Members will have the opportunity during these debates and discussions to expose the myths and distortions of the anti-Europeans for what they are. The case for the new treaty—based on fact, rather than myth—is the case for a modern, reforming Europe that is delivering greater prosperity and security to its members, and whose members are in the driving seat. The treaty will give more powers to the member states, through the European Council, in which national Governments set the European Union’s priorities and ensure that they are carried through. By replacing the current system of six-monthly rotating presidencies of the European Council—the body in which the European Union’s member countries set the organisation’s priorities—with a full-time Chair, we shall ensure that we, the nations, set the European Union’s agenda and get it implemented. That is a widely supported reform, and I am pleased to say that its supporters include the leader of the Conservative party in the European Parliament. Decision-making will be simpler, where that makes sense, but we shall retain the national veto on areas of vital national interest such as tax, social security, foreign policy, defence and key areas of criminal law, along with the European Union’s budget and, of course, future changes to the treaty. For the first time, national Parliaments will have the power to send European Union legislative proposals back for review, if one third of national Parliaments believe that a draft law infringes the principle that the EU should act only where it adds value—the so-called subsidiarity principle.