SNP MEP and Party President, Ian Hudghton MEP has called for the EU's Lisbon Treaty to be declared dead following its rejection in a referendum by the Irish people. The MEP made the call addressing an emergency debate on the issue in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, called following Ireland's rejection of the Treaty.
The Treaty was supposed to replace the earlier, failed EU Constitution, which was abandoned after rejection by voters in France and the Netherlands. Mr Hudghton said that Europe's political elite should respect the verdict of the voters, ditch the treaty and prepare a simpler and clearer set of arrangements to run an expanding European Union.
Speaking in Parliament, the SNP MEP said:
"The Lisbon Treaty is dead.
"Without unanimous approval that is simply a legal fact. Voters, not just in Ireland, but in France and The Netherlands too, have said NO to this Treaty text and its near identical twin. To regain the confidence of our peoples we must do more than just stick a new cover and title on the Lisbon text and try to push ahead.
"The Treaty is too easy to ridicule, and too difficult to read or explain. We must not continue with this excessively complicated and incomprehensible text. We must, in short, have a much clearer and concise rule book which does not leave scope for doubt about the powers which member states retain.
"It is up to the remaining eight member states to decide whether and how to proceed with ratification BUT if they are confident that their people would vote YES then they should have referendums. In particular I challenge Gordon Brown to have the promised UK referendum."
