Brown pledges Commons vote before any changes to EU veto

GORDON Brown has promised MPs that there would be no further diluting of Britain's EU veto without a vote in the House of Commons.

The Prime Minister was speaking after the government published the bill to ratify the controversial EU Reform Treaty he signed in Lisbon last week.

He said the legislation would be examined "in the fullest detail" and pledged: "There is a provision in the bill that any proposal to activate the mechanisms in the treaty which provide for further moves to qualified majority voting, but which require unanimity, will have to be subject to a prior vote by the House."

Those clauses in the treaty are known as passerelles, the French word for a footbridge, signifying the movement of a subject from one voting area to another.

The Prime Minister assured MPs in a Commons statement: "In the event of a negative vote, the Government would refuse to allow the use of the passerelle."

Mr Brown also confirmed he would "oppose any further institutional change in the relationship between the EU and its member states, not just for this parliament but for the next".

He stressed: "I stand by that commitment."

Mr Brown said that after the treaty-signing in Lisbon on Thursday and a summit in Brussels the following day, "Europe is now moving to a new agenda – one that focuses on the changes needed to meet the challenges of the global era".

The Tory leader David Cameron challenged Mr Brown to keep his "promise" to hold a referendum on the EU treaty.

"Once again the Prime Minister is treating people like fools," said Mr Cameron. He taunted Mr Brown about his late arrival to sign the Lisbon Treaty, saying his performance was "bizarre".

"The best chance he has got to redeem himself is to hold that referendum he promised," added Mr Cameron.

The Prime Minister said EU leaders had also agreed to send a policing mission to Kosovo after the failure of United Nations-sponsored talks to bring independence to the UN-administered province of Serbia.