European Union (Amendment) Bill

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second Time. The Bill will give effect in United Kingdom law to changes agreed last October at the European Council in Lisbon to the treaties establishing the European Communities and the European Union. The Government are convinced that Britain's membership and full engagement with the European Union is good for Britain and good for Europe; and we believe that the treaty is good for Britain and good for Europe, too. The treaty is the fifth such treaty since the late Edward Heath negotiated the UK's entry to the EU in 1973. Lady Thatcher's Single European Act of 1986 set out the blueprint to complete the single market, provided for co-operation in foreign policy and created the concept of the convergence of economic and monetary policies. John Major's treaty of Maastricht in 1992 created economic and monetary union, the common foreign and security policy, and co-operation on justice and home affairs. Tony Blair's 1997 treaty of Amsterdam streamlined decision making and added provisions on social policy and employment, while the treaty of Nice in 2001 adjusted the EU's institutions to pave the way for enlargement. As I will describe, the treaty will improve the way in which the EU works. It will adapt the EU's institutions to a Union of 27, and ensure that the voice of Europe's nations is heard more loudly in foreign policy. It brings national Parliaments into day-to-day decision making to strengthen subsidiarity and focuses the EU on the big external challenges from climate change to migration.