Tory Euro MP Daniel Hannan said: “It is appalling, demeaning, disgraceful that such a thing should have been done without popular consent and in the absence of the referendum that all three parties had promised.”

The Lisbon Treaty abolishes dozens of national vetoes over Brussels decision-making and creates the unelected post of President of the Council of the European Union.

“We must make sure this can never happen again by changing the law to make referendums compulsory on any new treaty that would hand over areas of power from Britain to the EU.”

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year, said: “Today the EU is a force to be reckoned with, both economically and politically. A new era of European cooperation beings today.”

“Unaccountable, unelected EU politicians and judges have sweeping new ­powers over everything from our criminal justice systems to asylum ­policy.”