Treaty of Lisbon (No. 2)

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. As a former Minister, he knows the argument inside out. What he and I are trying to say was confirmed in June last year by the legal service of the Council of Ministers, which stated its opinion that"““according to the Court””" —that is, the European Court of Justice—"““this principle””" —of supremacy—"““is inherent to the specific nature of the European Community””." As was pointed out earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper), what is so supremely unconvincing about the Government's position is that they themselves attempted to water down the boundary quite vigorously during the early stages of the negotiations. The right hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain), who as Minister for Europe was our main negotiator, lobbied to amend the treaty's definition of ““shared competence”” so that when the EU had acted—these were his proposed words—"““Member States shall respect the obligations imposed on them by the relevant Union measures””." That, in Euro-babble, means that it would have encroached less on our sovereignty. It was a very reasonable amendment which would not have precluded the action of individual member states, but the Government failed to amend the text. We are now lumbered with the deeply regrettable fact, as defined in the treaty, that member states cannot legislate if the EU has done so first, which jeopardises our ability to act independently on energy matters. Undoubtedly the most unsettling part of the text is in article 100, which reads:"““Without prejudice to any other procedures provided for in the Treaties, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may decide, in a spirit of solidarity between Member States, upon the measures appropriate to the economic situation, in particular if severe difficulties arise in the supply of certain products, notably in the area of energy.””" That is a pretty extraordinary part of the treaty, and I shall return to it in a little more detail later. The final surprise is the insertion of an entirely new article on energy—article 176 A, for those who are following this in their primers—which establishes an EU energy policy. It will allow the EU,"““In the context of the establishment and functioning of the internal market and with regard for the need to preserve and improve the environment””," to pass laws in four key areas: ensuring the functioning of the market; ensuring security of supply; promoting energy efficiency, saving and renewables; and promoting the interconnection of energy networks. In that, the United Kingdom has no power of veto. The laws pass through co-decision, including qualified majority voting in the Council. Our Government have essentially written a blank cheque to Brussels, which could in certain circumstances oblige the United Kingdom, for example, to assist in the building of other member states' energy infrastructure, or even to supply them with energy during times of emergency.