Use this website to quickly and easily compare the EU Constitution to the Treaty of Lisbon.

The ability to do this is of particular relevance to those EU countries whose governing political parties promised their electorates a referendum over the introduction of an EU constitutional treaty, due to the national constitutional implications of such a treaty. Whilst the EU Constitution itself was defeated in referenda in France and Holland in 2005, the content of it has survived largely intact in the Treaty of Lisbon. Therefore, some argue those promised referenda apply just as much to the Treaty of Lisbon as they did to the EU Constitution. Others argue the two treaties are different, and the constitutional concept/approach has been abandoned for the Treaty of Lisbon. My analysis so far suggests the 'constitutional concept' has only been abandoned in reference to the structure, not to the content - ie. a change in form has occurred, not a change in substance. Is a jigsaw puzzle still the same jigsaw puzzle if you move the pieces around?

In early 2008, as I'm writing this, the European Union Amendment Bill is passing through the UK Parliament, and according to reports from several Conservative and some Labour MPs, debate has been severely curtailed. It seems the UK government under the leadership of Gordon Brown is doing everything it can to pass the Bill in the face of opposition, including using a three-line whip with Labour MPs to enforce the government's majority. The UK government's refusal to give the promised referendum to the British people over a constitutional treaty hinges entirely on the view that the constitional approach has been abandoned, and that the Treaty if Lisbon is different in CONTENT as well as structure. This website attempts to go beyond the endless ping pong of partisan politics whereby the truth is lost in endless 'claims'. This website attempts to go beyond mere 'claims' and to provide an accurate, irrefutable demonstration of the truth to anyone in seconds, at the click of a button - showing where the treaties differ and where they are the same. In this way, people will be able to access the evidence for themselves, and make their own minds up.

One of the big problems in the Treaty of Lisbon (and, therefore, the EU Amendment Bill) debate, is that neither the EU nor the UK government are providing consolidated texts of the revised Treaty on European Union, and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Treaty of Lisbon itself is difficult to read, due to its heavily cross-referenced 'amending' nature, where even the numbering system used throughout the treaty is then changed towards the end, to produce a different numbering system to be applied to the amended treaties. It's difficult and time-consuming for someone to follow even if that's their main full-time job - let alone a member of the public trying to follow the debate! Another reason for this website is to fill the gap that the EU and UK government have left, most conspicuously, in being transparent and informing the citizenry - something they should be doing as a matter of course and the lack of which leads to suspicions the EU and UK political governing classes are trying to circumvent the will of the British people with the introduction of this treaty by keeping things secret and using confusion and obfuscation as tactics. What a sad state of affairs to live our lives by in Europe when we could be so proud instead of building a better future.