MPs have voted against a proposal to safeguard the rights of suspects detained at police stations across Europe to have access to lawyer.

Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke tabled a motion last week recommending that the UK should not opt into a draft European Union directive that would ensure the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and the right to communicate upon arrest.

The directive is the third measure in a road map agreed by the European council in 2009 that aims for greater harmonisation of fundamental tenets of criminal law across Europe.

In a deferred division yesterday, the House of Commons voted by 303 to 192 not to opt into the directive.

In a debate on the issue last week, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said the government did not want to opt into the measure as it feared the directive would have ‘adverse and costly’ impacts on the ability to investigate and prosecute offences, and on the UK’s criminal justice system.

He said the directive requires access to a lawyer in some stages of the investigatory process where a lawyer is not currently provided and where the government considers such access is not proportionate - for instance during a property search or when fingerprints are taken.

Djanogly was also concerned that the directive required absolute confidentiality in respect of meetings and communications between a lawyer and a suspected or accused person.

‘While confidentiality of such discussions is of course a fundamental principle, there are some limited circumstances in which confidentiality should not be guaranteed,’ he said.

In addition he said that the changes to domestic law that the directive would require would cost approximately £32m-34m a year.

Shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter said the government’s reasons for opting out of the directive were ‘at best unconvincing and at worst spurious’.

He said the directive’s requirements are ‘broadly in line’ with current UK legislation and by not opting into it the government would ‘appear to be throwing away an advantage to British citizens’.

Opting out at this stage, he said would ‘fatally’ undermine the UK’s authority and leverage during the negotiations.

He added: ‘It looks as though the government are looking for reasons to opt out at this stage.’