EU: Constitution

House of Lords written question – answered at on 1 October 2007.

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Photo of Lord Pearson of Rannoch Lord Pearson of Rannoch UKIP

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 18 July (WA 26), whether, when they signed the European Union Constitutional Treaty in 2004, they agreed that the United Kingdom's existing labour and social legislation, common law system, police and judicial processes, independent foreign and defence policy and tax and social security system could have been changed by the resulting constitution, had it come into force.

Photo of Lord Malloch-Brown Lord Malloch-Brown Minister of State (Africa, Asia and the UN), Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Minister of State (Africa, Asia and the UN)

The constitutional treaty contained many sensible changes, which the Government supported, and which would have helped an enlarged EU deliver more effectively. But as the mandate for a reform treaty states clearly: "The constitutional concept, which consisted in repealing all existing Treaties and replacing them by a single text called 'Constitution', is abandoned".

The reform treaty not only amends the existing treaties but also better safeguards our national control in key areas such as labour and social legislation, police and judicial processes, foreign and defence policy, and social security policy.

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