Brown under pressure over EU treaty

The Commons European Scrutiny Committee raised the alarm over what it feared were moves to pressure Britain into surrendering control of criminal justice matters. It warned that newly-inserted passages in the treaty could box the UK into accepting European jurisdiction over police and judicial co-operation.

Committee chairman Michael Connarty wrote an urgent letter demanding explanations from Foreign Secretary David Miliband ahead of the EU's Lisbon summit next week. The intervention came after the Prime Minister reiterated that he would not sign up to the treaty without Britain's "red lines" intact.

Speaking alongside European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso after talks in Downing Street, Mr Brown said he would only sign the treaty if it safeguarded British interests.

In his letter, however, Mr Connarty stressed his committee's fears about the document, saying: "The committee has a particular concern over the effectiveness of the safeguards for the UK position on those questions identified by the Government as 'red-line' issues."

Mr Connarty went on to express concerns about new clauses which appeared to threaten the UK's "free exercise" of opt-outs in areas of security and justice. Two changes raised the prospect of Britain being overruled on competition grounds if it used its opt-out, he said.

"If we have understood the position correctly, the amendment to the Protocol and the Declaration could well have the effect of persuading the UK to opt-in for fear of unpredictable consequences if it did not," Mr Connarty wrote.

He also highlighted a separate new provision which appeared to pave the way for an ultimatum to the UK on police and judicial co-operation five years after the treaty is signed.

At that stage, the UK would be forced to decide whether or not to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and the EC, Mr Connarty wrote. If the UK did not accept that development, it would lose any benefits from the EU Treaty and faces an unlimited fine imposed by other members.

Mr Connarty said: "If we have understood it correctly, the intention of this provision seems to be to oblige the UK to accept the jurisdiction of the ECJ and the powers of the Commission, on a retrospective basis, over EU measures which have already been adopted."