Social media posts outlines 26 points of the Lisbon Treaty – Fact Check

In the midst of the UK’s exit from the European Union, dubbed Brexit, an apparent summary of what the Lisbon Treaty would entail for the UK (should it opt to remain in the EU) – frequently titled ‘I just got through reading the Lisbon treaty. OMG’ is spreading virally across social media.

MOSTLY FALSE

Among the claims is that the UK would lose control of its armed forces, would lose control of provinces including the Falklands and the claim the UK would lose its ability to veto. It also claims the Lisbon Treaty comes into effect in 2020.

We tackle the majority of claims individually below, but to summarise this article quickly right here – nearly all of the points mentioned in the viral post are simply false, or at best, misleading. The viral post even gets the fundamental facts about the Lisbon Treaty wrong, including the false claim that it comes into effect in 2020.

Given the clearly false nature of most of the points, we believe the post was written maliciously, as opposed to some persistent misinterpretation of the treaty itself.

The copy of the Lisbon Treaty we used for this article can be obtained here.

This isn’t an article that aims to determine the legitimacy or merits of the UK leaving the European Union. This article addressed only the specific claims made in the viral social media post.

I just got through reading the Lisbon treaty. OMG!!!!!!
WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THE LISBON TREATY, THE TREATY THAT COMES INTO FORCE 2020, ITS WORSE THAN THE SO CALLED DEAL, IF 99% OF THE BRITISH THINK TERESA MAYS DEAL IS BAD, JUST LOOK AT THE LISBON TREATY. PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW, LEAVERS AND REMAIN

The Lisbon Treaty was signed by member states in 2007, and came into force on December 1st 2009. As such, claims that it has yet to come into force, or that it comes into force in 2020, are categorically false.

This is further acknowledged because it was Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty that the UK invoked when beginning their process to leave the EU.

1: The UK along with all existing members of the EU lose their abstention veto in 2020 as laid down in the Lisbon Treaty when the system changes to that of majority acceptance with no abstentions or veto’s being allowed.

False. It is true that the Lisbon Treaty did change – for certain issues – the number of countries that would need to vote in favour of proposed changes to legislation before that legislation is approved. That means for certain areas that would have previously required a unanimous agreement, a majority vote is now accepted.

However for certain issues, especially more important issues and issues related to security or any proposed expansion to the EU or its powers, a unanimous vote is still required, meaning in those decisions, countries still very much have what amounts to a veto. (For example, all EU members would have to agree to offer the UK an extension before leaving the EU. This would still be a unanimous vote.) Additionally there is no such thing as an “abstention veto”.

2: All member nations will become states of the new federal nation of the EU by 2022 as clearly laid out in the Lisbon treaty with no exceptions or veto’s.

False. We searched the entire text of the Lisbon Treaty and found 8 mentions of the word Federal. All of which were used to describe the Federal Republic of Germany. There were no mentions of the year 2022. There is simply nothing in the Lisbon Treaty to support this claim.

Any future proposed creation of a “federal nation” would likely need unanimous approval which any member state could veto.

3: All member states must adopt the Euro by 2022 and any new member state must do so within 2 years of joining the EU as laid down in the Lisbon treaty.

False. The UK (and Denmark) have an opt-out of the Euro. In the Lisbon Treaty under UK provisions, it states – “ Unless the United Kingdom notifies the Council that it intends to adopt the euro, it shall be under no obligation to do so.”

The treaty does include an eventual objective of adopting the Euro in all EU countries, but this doesn’t supersede the UK’s opt-out explicitly outlined in their provisions. Ultimately, the UK would have to agree to adopt the Euro and cannot be forced to do so using the Lisbon Treaty.

4: The London stock exchange will move to Frankfurt in 2020 and be integrated into the EU stock exchange resulting in a loss of 200,000 plus jobs in the UK because of the relocation. (This has already been pre-agreed and is only on a holding pattern due to the Brexit negotiations, which if Brexit does happen, the move is fully cancelled – but if not and the UK remains a member it’s full steam ahead for the move.)

False. There is nothing in the Lisbon Treaty about the London Stock Exchange or any merger. There is no “EU stock exchange” and any search of something with that name typically yields this very same viral social media post. We could find no results that claim the LSE in planning a move to Frankfurt.

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5: The EU Parliament and ECJ become supreme over all legislative bodies of the UK.

Partially true. EU law needs to be approved by the European Parliament, where all member states have representatives (MEPs). The “supreme” judge over those laws is the European Court of Justice. EU law supersedes domestic law.

However EU law does not cover everything, in which case domestic laws are used as a “supreme” judge. Additionally, this is something the UK agreed to some time ago and is nothing to do with the Lisbon Treaty.

6: The UK will adopt 100% of whatever the EU Parliament and ECJ lays down without any means of abstention or veto, negating the need for the UK to have the Lords or even the Commons as we know it today.

Mostly False. As stated in bullet point 1, the UK does have a veto with certain decisions that require a unanimous vote. It is true that whatever is adopted by the EU also has to be adopted by all EU members. The House of Lords and House of Commons are still very much required to pass UK law which is vital since – as we mentioned above – EU law does not cover everything that may arise in the UK.

7: The UK will NOT be able to make its own trade deals.

True (but nothing to do with Lisbon Treaty.) Perhaps one of the most well-known aspects of EU membership is that it trades as a single bloc, and member states cannot make their own trade deals that are separate, though each state has some influence over EU trade agreements. This already applies to the UK and isn’t anything to do with the Lisbon Treaty.

8: The UK will NOT be able to set its own trade tariffs.

True (but nothing to do with Lisbon Treaty.) Similar to the above, this already applies to the UK.

9 The UK will NOT be able to set its own trade quotas.

True (but nothing to do with Lisbon Treaty.) Same as above.

10: The UK loses control of its fishing rights

The UK has not had full control of its fishing rights since the 1970s when the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy originated. EU laws dictate, among others things, how many of each species of fish can be caught per member state each year. The Lisbon Treaty expands these powers to include the “conservation of marine biological resources“.

11: The UK loses control of its oil and gas rights

Existing EU legislation already governs much of the way oil and gas can be searched for and licensed. However member states have control over where oil and gas can be searched for in their own countries.

The UK loses control of its borders and enters the Schengen region by 2022 – as clearly laid down in the Lisbon treaty

False. Much like adopting the Euro, the UK has an opt-out from joining the Schengen region (the area that has abolished passport control at mutual borders) and this cannot be overturned without the UK’s explicit consent.

13: The UK loses control of its planning legislation

False. There is existing EU legislation on some aspects of planning, but many changes to planning legislation (town and country planning) are subject to an unanimous vote by member states, so the UK – and any member state – can veto any undesired proposed changes.
 

14: The UK loses control of its armed forces including its nuclear deterrent

False. The claim about a proposed “EU army” have been spreading for years, without merit. Any significant changes to EU legislation concerning security and defence would require a unanimous vote by EU member states, giving the UK – and other member states – a veto on such matters. The UK is still in control of their armed forces.

Additionally the UK is in control of its nuclear deterrent, and does not need approval from the EU (or anyone else) for its use. There is not mention of nuclear deterrents in the Lisbon Treaty.

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15: The UK loses full control of its taxation policy

There is EU legislation concerning taxation policies, though the UK has not and will not lose “full control” over taxes, including how they are spent. EU legislation and changes to that legislation requires a unanimous vote giving the UK – and other member states – a veto on undesired proposed changes.

16: The UK loses the ability to create its own laws and to implement them

False. As noted a number of times already in this article, there are many areas of law that EU legislation will not or cannot cover. The UK can still create and implement domestic laws.

17: The UK loses its standing in the Commonwealths

False. There is nothing in the Lisbon Treaty or other EU legislation that prohibits the UK being part of the Commonwealth.

18: The UK loses control of any provinces or affiliated nations e.g.: Falklands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar etc

False. There is nothing in the Lisbon Treaty that would force the UK to “lose control” over overseas territories.

19: The UK loses control of its judicial system

Mostly False. As already noted, the UK is has its own judicial system and as noted in bullet point 16, still has the ability to create and implement domestic laws. The ECJ is the ultimate judicial authority on matters that can be covered by EU law, but this is not synonymous with losing control over a member state’s own judicial system. And none of this has anything to do with the Lisbon Treaty.

20: The UK loses control of its international policy

Indeterminable. “International policy” is a vague term and could potentially refer to many different things. As noted, EU member states do, for example, trade internationally as a single bloc.

21: The UK loses full control of its national policy

Indeterminable. “National policy” is another vague term, and many specific areas of “national policy” – such as oil and gas rights, border issues and judicial concerns – have already been addressed here.

22: The UK loses its right to call itself a nation in its own right.

False. EU membership (or indeed the Lisbon Treaty) has no bearing on issues concerning statehood. EU nations can still refer to themselves as nations.

23: The UK loses control of its space exploration program

False. There is a European Space Agency, but it is not related to the EU. The EU has powers to implementing activities related to space, but it is specifically outlined in the Lisbon Treaty that this does not come at the expense of domestic space programs –

‘In the areas of research, technological development and space, the Union shall have competence to carry out activities, in particular to define and implement programmes; however, the exercise of that competence shall not result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs.’

As such, the UK does not lose control of its own space exploration program.

24: The UK loses control of its Aviation and Sea lane jurisdiction

False. “Aviation jurisdiction” presumably refers to international air space in relation to transport (i.e. planes.) The UK is a signatory of the UN’s Convention on International Civil Aviation which is responsible for coordinating and regulating international air travel. This is irrelevant to EU membership. Additionally we cannot find anything in the Lisbon Treaty about “sea lane jurisdiction” or shipping.
 

25: The UK loses its rebate in 2020 as laid down in the Lisbon treaty

False. The Lisbon Treaty says nothing about rebates. It is true that the EU want to gradually remove rebates past 2020, which would include rebates given to the UK. At the time of writing this is only a proposed move and would require a unanimous vote, meaning the UK, and other member states, could veto the move.

26: The UK’s contribution to the EU is set to increase by an average of 1.2bn pa and by 2.3bn pa by 2020

We could find no statistics to confirm these figures, though of course it could depend on when this claim was authored. Most projections we could locate claim that net contributions will peak during 2019/2020 and then reduce (if the UK opted to remain.)

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We rate these claims about the Lisbon Treaty false, since the majority of these points are objectively false, while others are misleading or out of context. Many points refer to EU legislation that the UK has been part of for decades as opposed to changes made by the Lisbon Treaty. And of course the most fundamental error made by these claims is the incorrect presumption that the Lisbon Treaty is yet to “come into force” when it actually came into power in 2009.