Dr John Hayward

From 1 December the Lisbon Treaty (aka the European Constitution) will be incorporated into EU Law, creating a European President and Foreign Minister (more technically, 'President of the European Council' and 'High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy') and introducing new powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice, for example in the field of justice and home affairs.

There are serious questions that still need answering about the democratic process by which Europe has reached this point. Specifically, the fact that citizens in just one of the 27 countries has ever had the opportunity to express their wishes through a referendum - the Irish, who rejected the treaty in 2008 and were therefore required to vote again in October 2009, when they accepted it after all - and the fact that the British Government promised its citizens a referendum on the treaty but chose to break its promise.

Moving beyond the questions of process, however, it is now time to ask how we should respond to the treaty. How should we evaluate proposals from the Conservatives to introduce a new United Kingdom Sovereignty Bill to ensure that ultimate authority lies with our Parliament rather than in Europe, including the prevention of so-called ratchet clauses in the Lisbon Treaty being used to hand over more powers from Britain to the EU without the full approval of Parliament? For guidance, it is worth revisiting the seven biblical principles identified in one of the Jubilee Centre's previous Cambridge Papers, Should Christians support the euro?

i) The identity of peoples and nation-states

Biblical teaching portrays national identities and diversity as ordained by God and something to be celebrated. Loss of national sovereignty through absorption into empire is regarded as a judgement, both for Israel (e.g. Deuteronomy 15:6) and her neighbours (e.g. Amos 1). God may use empires as instruments to achieve his purposes (e.g. Isaiah 40) but they are nowhere extolled as part of God's social design. Rather, diversity of language is a means of restraining evil (Genesis 11).

The centralising forces that accompany the treaty will significantly diminish decision-making powers of existing nation-states. This increases the likelihood of internal conflict within Europe (see below) and weakens the ability of nation-states to resist pan-European dictatorship. Too often the states of Europe have been the focus of nationalistic idolatry, but at the same time their existence has repeatedly prevented the rise of lasting pan-Continental Empires as, for example, under Louis XIV, the Hapsburgs, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm III, Hitler or Stalin. If the EU bypasses nation-states by replacing them with a single executive and devolving administration to regional governments, the risk of continent-wide dictatorship increases.

ii) Solidarity of family and local community

Much of Old Testament law is designed to protect and give function to the family and local community. Although Jesus makes clear that the demands of his kingdom must take precedence over family loyalties, he nevertheless underlines family obligations for welfare in his teaching (e.g. Mark 7:9-13) and by example (e.g. John 19:26-7). Paul does the same (e.g. 1 Timothy 5:3-8).

Greater mobility is probably the only way that regional divergences of economic performance within the EU can be evened out. This runs counter to the need to reduce social isolation and welfare dependency, both of the elderly and of young families, which arises as a result of the disintegration of the extended family through spatial job mobility.

iii) Avoidance of concentration of political and economic power

If Israel's political and social design was intended to teach general normative principles for social organisation, one of its most obvious lessons is the importance of diffusion of political and economic power. Decentralisation of power facilitates the widespread participation in political and economic decisions, which is a necessary expression of every person being made in God's image. It is also important to ensure accountability in the exercise of power, given the reality of human fallenness, and prevents the state abrogating to itself the glory that rightly belongs to God (cf. Revelation 13).

With the establishment of a common EU defence and foreign policy, it will be much more difficult for concerned organisations or individuals to influence EU decisions than national decisions. In such an environment, only the largest and most highly resourced lobbying groups will influence policy.

iv) Effective stewardship of resources

Christians generally understand the command to 'subdue the earth' (Genesis 1:28) as a mandate for the effective stewardship of the earth's economic and human resources. The same theme underpins the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Stewardship is partly a matter of making the best possible use of the resources God has given us, so maximising economic growth and wealth creation. However, it is also concerned with the long-term sustainability of the growth process and the care we take of the environment. Since the natural world belongs to God rather than ourselves, we are under an obligation to use it both productively and responsibly.