Treaty red lines 'getting stronger'

He told talks in Luxembourg that the Government is determined to keep its opt-outs from parts of the proposed new "reform treaty" which Gordon Brown is due to agree at his first EU summit as Prime Minister later this week.

Mr Miliband joined fellow EU foreign ministers for a pre-summit gathering to clear the way for a deal in Lisbon on Friday.

The aim at the two-day summit will be to approve the controversial reform plan, replacing the even more controversial constitution voted down in Dutch and French referendums more than two years ago.

The deal would then be signed into being at another summit in December.

But Mr Brown has warned he will veto the new deal unless issues affecting national sovereignty are safeguarded.

His so-called "red lines" limit UK involvement in new EU-level cooperation on justice and home affairs, foreign and defence policy, and a legally-binding Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The Government is under increasing pressure since the Labour-dominated Commons European Scrutiny Committee warned last week that the "red lines' are in danger of unravelling because of the terms of the reform treaty.

But Mr Miliband declared today: "The red lines are clear - and getting stronger."

He made clear that Mr Brown has no intention of weakening his stance when he gets to the summit on Thursday.