Press Release

20/02/2008

European Parliament approves the Lisbon Treaty. Íñigo Méndez de Vigo MEP

The European Parliament approved today the Treaty of Lisbon by a large and clear majority, clearing the way for the ratification of the text in all the 27 parliaments of the Member States. Five of them - Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, France and Romania - have already ratified it, the rest have the compromise to do it before the end of this year.

The plenary voted with 525 in favour, 115 against and 29 abstentions on the recommendation tabled by EPP-ED Spokesman in the Constitutional Affairs Committee, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, which claimed support for the Lisbon Treaty as it provides the EU with "the tools to be more democratic and more efficient in the years ahead" as well as "the opportunity to continue building policies that are an added value for all Europeans."

"Europe should provide answers to the citizens' expectations. Europe cannot hide itself and do ostrich policies. Europe should speak in the world with one voice, should have a presence and should resolve today's problems like climate change, the fight against illegal immigration and nuclear proliferation. We need to face these problems and the new Treaty gives us the necessary tools and the strength to do it", Méndez de Vigo said.

The great winners of the new Treaty are both the European Parliament and the European citizens as the extension of decisions by majority voting means more powers to the Parliament and more democratic accountability to the Union in subjects like the environment, immigration, energy, sport or protection of consumers: "Policies that matter in citizens' everyday lives and that's what counts", he underlined.

Méndez de Vigo explained that even if the European Parliament was more ambitious and wanted to go further, Europe is built on agreements and political solutions and the new text is one of them, as it allows the European Union to resolve the problem of the rejection in two countries of the project of the Constitution.

Nevertheless, he highlighted that the Lisbon Treaty safeguards the essential achievements of the constitutional project, and after 50 years of the European Union project, there will be time in the future to recuperate what has been left behind, as "the construction of Europe will never end", he concluded.

For further information:
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo MEP, Tel: +33-3-88175755
Pedro López de Pablo, EPP-ED Press Service, Tel: +32-475-493352

Notes to Editors:
The EPP-ED Group is the largest political group in the European Parliament with 288 Members from all 27 Member States.