19th October 2007 - Linda welcomes new EU Treaty

Linda McAvan has welcomed news that agreement has been reached by heads of government in Lisbon on a new EU Treaty. The "Reform Treaty" has been agreed as a way forward for the European Union, after the constitution that had previously been proposed was rejected by voters in France and Holland.

The new Treaty has been the subject of much controversy.

Linda McAvan said:

“There have been some frankly scandalous scare stories going around about what this new Treaty means. Fortunately, it is nothing like as dramatic as some people would have the public believe. The European Union has been working with a rule book drawn up when only 15 countries were members. Now there are 27, so of course there have to be changes to that rulebook. But the new Treaty will be in Britain's interests, it will help European countries to work together better to face common challenges. There will be no fundamental change in how Britain is governed."

She continued;

"Under the terms of the Treaty, all new European legislation will be scrutinised not just by Members of the European Parliament like me, and by government ministers, and by MPs in Westminster. It is a far more democratic process than that of any other international organisation. The Treaty is technical, it is complicated, but it will improve how the EU works, which in turn can only be good for Britain, and not a threat to our nation."

For more information about the new Treaty, please click here.