National Legal Implications of Lisbon Treaty
As you can imagine I did not agree with the outcome of the Convention and in response I published, with the support of Rt Hon William Hague MP, the first edition of my "Simplifying Treaty". In this text, which I subsequently updated and published again last year, I present my contribution to the debate. To highlight some key points, I suggest that national parliaments should have a much greater say in the European legislative process. The right to initiate EU laws should be transferred from the (unelected) Commission to the (elected) European Parliament. I also advocate a substantial strengthening and underpinning of subsidiarity - the principle that the EU should only act where it can do so more effectively than Member States could acting alone. What was the result of the Convention - a Constitutional Treaty? The French and Dutch voted 'No'.
