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Proceeding contribution from Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 11 March 2008. It occurred during Debate on bill on European Union (Amendment) Bill.


European Union (Amendment) Bill

My hon. Friend is right, and that is another example why the Lisbon treaty is a good thing. The EU institutions should be subject to control, checks and accountability. Interestingly, Conservative Members do not like that. To be fair to Conservative Members, however, the biggest misrepresentation of the Lisbon treaty has come from the misnamed Democracy Movement—the leaflet that it has been sending out contains so few facts that it should be entered for the Man Booker prize for fiction. The leaflet focuses on five areas in its attempt to alarm and mislead people. Its first charge is that Britain's voting strength will be cut by a third. As I have said, our voting share will increase by almost 50 per cent. The Democracy Movement also says that the control of Brussels is being extended over our criminal justice system. There is no mention of the UK opt-ins—our ability to veto any extension of joint working to tackle crime, if we so choose—and there is no mention that co-operation on criminal justice is restricted to cross-border issues, such as beating international organised crime and tackling the international trade in drugs, guns and people, which one would have thought supporters of the Democracy Movement would favour.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
473 c189 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Disclosure of information Criminal proceedings Accountability Administration of justice Asylum Children's rights Climate change Competition Constitutions Health services Firearms Human rights European Convention on Human Rights Immigration Environment protection EU law EU withdrawal Energy Drugs Human trafficking EU enlargement European Union European Parliament EU internal trade European Constitution Treaty EU common foreign and security policy EU institutions Labour and employment EU reform NHS Qualifications Police Organised crime Older people Referendums Parliament Paedophilia Terrorism Treaties Research Treaty on European Union UK membership of EU Smuggling European Court of Justice Council of Ministers Qualified majority voting Treaty of Lisbon EU presidency
Legislation
European Union (Amendment) Bill 2007-08
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk