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Briefing: EU Reform Treaty

Gordon Brown finally signed Britain up to the European Union's new constitutional treaty this afternoon - arriving in Lisbon four hours after the official signing ceremony attended by every other European Union leader.

The Prime Minister put his name to the EU reform treaty alone, behind closed doors, after choosing to stay in London during the official signing to attend a question-and-answer session with a House of Commons committee.

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The Conservatives said that the move, which left Britain as the only country out of 27 EU members not represented by a head of state or government, showed a "sulky rudeness" to EU leaders which would lose Mr Brown influence on the Continent. The ceremony was attended instead by David Miliband, who signed the treaty with an empty chair beside him.

William Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said that the the Tories would continue to press for a referendum on the document, which he said was effectively the same European constitution dumped after its rejection by French and Dutch voters.

After Mr Brown finally arrived in the Portuguese capital at 3pm, the Treaty of Lisbon was brought to him to sign on his own before a Portuguese TV camera at around 3.30pm. The plush official signing ceremony, at the city's Jeronimos Monastery, had started at 11am before the leaders trooped up one by one, accompanied by their foreign ministers, to sign the treaty.

By the time Mr Brown arrived many of the other leaders, including Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister, had already left after the midday ceremony and subsequent lunch.

During the ceremony, Mr Miliband was the only Foreign Minister to go up on stage without his leader by his side - leaving him forced to shake hands with an EU employee nearby after putting pen to paper.

"Miliband's problem was that he came down on his own and didn't actually have anyone to shake hands with," said Ben Macintyre, the Times correspondent at the ceremony.

"With the stage empty after he signed, the only person whose hand he could find to shake was the European attendant who carries all the books and paperwork. The chap looked utterly bemused."

The Prime Minister was quizzed about his non-attendance this morning while giving evidence to the House of Commons Liaison Committee, which he had chosen as an alternative to being in Lisbon.

Questioned by Edward Leigh, a Conservative Eurosceptic who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, on why he did not go, Mr Brown brushed aside the issue, saying: "I have got the advantage of being able to do both. You, I gather, will not wish to join me."

EU leaders say that the reform treaty is vital to streamline the bloc's workings following its enlargement to 27 members, but the Conservatives insist that it is a near-replica of the European Constitution on which Mr Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, had promised Britain a referendum.

The reform treaty creates a permanent EU President and a High Representative for foreign affairs, as well as a legal personality for the EU, allowing it to sign international treaties.

"Gordon Brown has left Britain with the worst of all worlds today," Mr Hague said. "With a stroke of a pen he has signed away a swathe of powers to the EU, but his sulky rudeness to our European partners means that he has actually managed to lose influence in Brussels.

"This latest blunder is another sign that Gordon Brown is struggling to cope as Prime Minister." The question he will now face day in, day out is what democratic right he has to agree to the renamed EU Constitution without letting the British people have their say."

Mr Brown, however, sought to move on from the controversy today by telling The Times that Britain was hugely influential in Europe. He said that the recent White Paper, Global Europe, would provide a major input into a European globalisation declaration tomorrow.

He added that European leaders in the future would focus on "economics, security, trade, economic reform, climate change, and not on institutional debate".

After signing the Treaty, Mr Brown left the museum to attend private talks with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, the current EU President, ahead of tomorrow’s Brussels summit.

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