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Brown heading to EU treaty summit No more treaty demands, UK warned
(1 day later)
Gordon Brown is to attend his first EU summit as prime minister in Lisbon, as leaders seek to thrash out the final draft of the EU reform treaty. Britain's requests for concessions in the EU treaty are likely to be met, but it must not make any fresh demands, the European Commission's president says.
He has said he will ensure Britain's "red lines" are protected, saying this avoids major constitutional change and makes a referendum unnecessary. President Jose Manuel Barroso added he hoped for no further "difficulties" at a two-day summit in Lisbon.
But ahead of the summit in Lisbon he was accused of "breaking his promise" on a vote by Tory leader David Cameron. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has now endorsed the treaty, saying Britain can set its own policies on justice, home and foreign affairs, plus security.
He told the PM it meant "no-one will trust you on anything else". He again rejected a Tory warning that a referendum on the treaty was needed.
"Why don't you admit the reason you won't have a referendum is that you are scared of losing it?" Mr Cameron asked Mr Brown during prime minister's questions. Britain has negotiated very hard some opt-outs on some specific issues - now we don't expect any more requests in that area Jose Manuel Barroso
We will at all times stand up for the British national interest Gordon Brown European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has urged all EU leaders to back the treaty.
But Mr Brown said the treaty would not bring "fundamental change" and said Britain's interests would be protected. "We prefer to have a solution that is broadly agreed with some specific opt-outs for some countries than not to move forward," he said.
"Britain will decide on justice and home affairs. Britain will decide on foreign policy, where it is multi-lateral. Britain will decide on social security and Britain will decide on national security," he said. "Britain has negotiated very hard some opt-outs on some specific issues - now we don't expect any more requests in that area.
"We will at all times stand up for the British national interest." "We should respect these lines that were put forward by Britain, so I think there will be no more difficulties. I hope that we will have a consensus today or tomorrow on the reform treaty."
Veto threat 'National interests'
The Tories say the reform treaty is essentially the same as the EU Constitution - and as a result, a referendum is needed. The opt-outs, which Mr Brown refers to as "red lines", are in areas such as human rights, tax and benefits, foreign policy and justice.
The government argues its "red lines" - which it says are opt outs on key areas like human rights, tax and benefits, foreign policy and justice - mean there will be no significant transfer of power to Brussels. Mr Brown said Britain's interests would be "protected" with opt-outsThe prime minister said that if these made the final draft of the treaty, it would avoid any significant transfer of power to Brussels.
Mr Brown has said he will veto the treaty if the red lines are not fully incorporated. "I've been determined that Britain will continue to decide in justice and home affairs - and I believe that the detailed changes that are being made with the opt-in for Britain in this area protect the British national interests," Mr Brown said at a news conference in the Portuguese capital.
But last week the Labour-dominated European scrutiny committee said the treaty was "substantially equivalent" to the constitution. "On foreign affairs and security matters, it is important for us that Britain can decide, and that's why we have been determined that foreign policy remains inter-governmental and decisions are made by unanimity.
A cross-party campaign for a referendum has been launched "On social security, we have been determined that there is an emergency break - and in some cases a veto - so that decisions are made in the interests of Britain."
On Tuesday the committee's chairman, Michael Connarty, told BBC Two's Newsnight programme he believed three of the four "red lines" were secure. Mr Brown, attending his first EU summit as prime minister, has pledged to veto the treaty if Britain's "red lines" were not fully incorporated.
But he said a new clause added to the protocol on 3 October had "seriously damaged" assurances on criminal justice and home affairs. Referendum calls
"Basically it says that after five years the UK must accept the European Court of Justice and the Commission will have the right to decide on matters to do with justice and home affairs - the ones at the moment they are not involved in, they are excluded from," he said. But shadow foreign secretary William Hague said that by failing to agree to a referendum, Mr Brown was "still treating the British people like fools" with comments that had "reached new depths of cynicism".
'Inward-looking debate' "He still claims that because the name 'constitution' has been dropped, this treaty is somehow different, even though the European Scrutiny Committee has specifically told him his argument is misleading.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has urged all EU leaders to back the new draft treaty. Mr Hague said polls showed most British people wanted a referendum"He claims that this treaty is about making a free-trading Europe work better, when he knows that it downgrades the importance of free competition."
On Wednesday, Mr Brown wrote to Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, who holds the EU's rotating presidency - saying: "The reform treaty sets the framework to ensure that an enlarged EU can function well. Mr Hague, a former Conservative leader, asked why voters should trust Mr Brown "when he so clearly does not trust them".
"This is the right time to bring an end to this prolonged period of inward-looking institutional debate and focus all our efforts on the issues that matter most to the future well-being of the people of Europe - economic growth, jobs, the environment and security." The UK Independence Party has also demanded a referendum, along with some Labour MPs, while ex-Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell has said a public vote should be held on the wider question of UK membership of the EU as well.
Among those calling for a referendum are the Conservatives, the UK Independence Party, and some Labour MPs. But Mr Brown was adamant this was not needed.
Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said they wanted a referendum to be held on the wider question of UK membership of the EU. "If we were debating as big an issue as Britain's membership of the euro, I would have been the first - indeed, I was the first - to say this is such an issue of great significance that the British people must vote in a referendum," he said.
"If it was the previous constitutional treaty, I would have argued, as we did, that there should have been a referendum. But this is an amending treaty, where the constitutional concept has been abandoned."
He said this was "a very different document" to the failed EU constitution, on which voters in the UK were promised a referendum.
And a parliamentary debate would be "the proper way of discussing this", he insisted, as long as the "red lines" made the final draft.