The dawn of a new European Union

10.27.00am GMT Wed 4th Nov 2009

Flag of the European Union

Liberal Democrats in Wantage and Didcot have welcomed the final ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, which increases the powers of the democratically-elected European Parliament, ensures transparency and accountability on the part of the European Council, and imposes new obligations on the European Commission to protect and enhance national identities. Said parliamentary spokesman Alan Armitage: "Far from moving us towards some kind of European Superstate, the Lisbon Treaty will force the European institutions to respond better to the demands of sovereign member states."

Mr Armitage added: "The British media's obsession with referenda, Conservative Party splits, the anti-European fringe parties, and whether Tony Blair would be selected as European Council President, has tended to obscure the real improvements which Lisbon will bring. The European Union is the largest single market in the world, with the economic power to force the rest of the world to pay attention to its priorities. It has been hamstrung for years by over-elaborate decision-making processes, which have held back progress on many important issues, such as achieving a step-change in environmental improvements worldwide, in reducing the number of wars, and in getting basic human rights observed across the world.

"Most of all, Europe is about liberty and equality of opportunity, for individual citizens and for communities and nations. A Union of 500 million people, sharing these values and leading the world economically, can and will be an unstoppable force for good."

For a concise guide to the changes brought in with the Lisbon Treaty, written by Lib Dem MEP Andrew Duff, visit

http://www.euromove.org.uk/fileadmin/files_euromove/downloads/True_Guide_to_the_Treaty_of_Lisbon_EN_1_.pdf