European Union (Amendment) Act 2008

The European Union (Amendment) Act 2008 (c. 7) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gives effect in the law of the United Kingdom to the Lisbon Treaty, which was signed there by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 14 December 2007.[6] The Bill was first debated in the House of Commons on 21 January 2008, and passed its second reading that day by a vote of 362-224; Prime Minister Gordon Brown was absent that day, and left the Bill to be defended by then-Foreign Secretary David Miliband who introduced it to the House of Commons.[7] A Conservative amendment led by the then Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague to hold a UK-wide referendum on final approval of the Lisbon Treaty was defeated by the Labour Government in a Committee stage debate on 5 March 2008, by 311-248 in the House of Commons. The enactment via royal assent came on 19 June 2008. The Act does not actually ratify the treaty; it merely adds the Lisbon Treaty to the treaties listed in section 1(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. The actual ratification by the United Kingdom of the treaty took place when the British Government deposited the instruments of ratification in Rome on 16 July 2008.[8]

European Union (Amendment) Act 2008[1]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision in connection with the Treaty of Lisbon Amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community, signed at Lisbon on 13 December 2007.
Citation	2008 c.7
Introduced by	David Miliband[2]
Territorial extent	United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) Indirectly also affects (not part of the territorial extent): The Isle of Man [The Bailiwick of] Jersey The Bailiwick of Guernsey Gibraltar
Dates
Royal assent	19 June 2008[3]
Commencement	19 June 2008,[4] except for section 3 and the Schedule which came into force on 1 December 2009.[5]
Other legislation
Amends	European Communities Act 1972
Repealed by	European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
Status: Repealed
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

Part of a series of articles on
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Accession Treaty of Accession 1972 1972 EC Act 1973 enlargement of the EC
1975 referendum Referendum Act (results)
Treaty amendments Single European Act, 1986 (UK ratification) Maastricht Treaty, 1992 (UK ratification) Treaty of Amsterdam, 1997 (UK ratification) Treaty of Nice, 2001 (UK ratification) Treaty of Lisbon, 2007 (UK ratification) Related: 2011 UK Act on new EU Treaty amendments EU-related British Acts Proposed European Constitution referendum European Union Bill 2004–2005
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Withdrawal 2015–2016 membership renegotiation 2016 EU membership referendum Vote Leave Britain Stronger in Europe Notification of withdrawal Brexit negotiations Impact of Brexit Future relationship Withdrawal agreement No-deal Brexit Impact on Irish border Northern Ireland Protocol Parliamentary votes Proposed second referendum
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The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 repealed this Act on 31 January 2020.