Treaty of Lisbon (No. 2)

I am happy to address that point. When I intervened on the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Alan Duncan), who is no longer in his place, I put the same question to him the other way round. I asked him what Conservative Members were afraid of in the powers in the Bill, as it consolidates and clarifies existing powers. Mention was made earlier of gobbledegook and double Dutch, but as European legislation and provisions go, article 176A is admirably clear. One could show it to the average person in the street, and they would understand immediately what it was talking about. It includes the aims to"““ensure the functioning of the energy market…ensure security of energy supply…promote energy efficiency … and … promote … interconnection””." Those are all clear and laudable aims, and putting them explicitly is better than having them brought in through the back door as environmental or economic provisions. The Secretary of State rightly pointed out that in the past, some of those energy goals have been achieved using other provisions—not as a pretext but as a route to them. Surely it is better to be explicit about energy policy and its goals, and that is what the treaty does. I cannot see what the Conservatives are afraid of in clarifying the goals and adding the caveats. I have not heard a convincing explanation.