IWR in the news

21/10/07

EU leaders gratified, but treaty not yet ratified

AFP

European leaders have swiftly turned their attention to the tricky issue of ratifying the landmark EU reform treaty, after endorsing the text aimed at updating its creaking institutions.

The 'Treaty of Lisbon' -- which replaces the EU constitution scuppered by French and Dutch voters in referendums in 2005 -- was brokered in the early hours of Friday after overcoming last-minute Polish and Italian objections at an EU summit in the Portuguese capital.

The EU leaders deem the 250-plus page treaty vital as the bloc's rule book has not had a serious update since 10 mostly eastern European countries joined in May 2004, followed by Bulgaria and Romania in January.

Like the rejected constitution, the treaty enshrines plans for a European foreign policy supremo and a more permanent president -- former British prime minister Tony Blair was one name bandied around in Lisbon -- to replace the current cumbersome rotating six-month presidency system.

The 'Lisbon Treaty' also cuts the size of the European parliament and the number of EU decisions which require unanimous support from member states, hence reducing national vetoes.

However it drops all references to the EU flag or anthem, in attempts to assuage eurosceptics who see this as another step along the slippery slope towards a federal Europe.

EU leaders will return to the Lisbon on December 13 to formally sign the text.

After that each of the 27 member states will have a year to ratify it, if it is to come into force as planned in January 2009.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, praised by his peers for helping secure the Lisbon deal, wasted no time in saying he hoped the French parliament would ratify the text in December, just after it is signed.

Most other countries will be hoping to follow suit, getting the treaty formally adopted via the parliamentary route rather than putting it to the sort of unpredictable referendums which torpedoed the constitution it was drawn up to replace.

Only Ireland is constitutionally bound to put the issue to the vote.

"May or June (2008) is my preference," Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said in Lisbon.

Unlike the constitution, the new pact amends the EU's existing treaties rather than replacing them entirely.

Many member states cite this fact as a reason why, this time round, a referendum is unnecessary.

However lobby groups, such as the 'I want a referendum' campaign in Britain -- which inflated a giant ballot box near the summit venue -- argue that the new text contains 94 percent of the old one.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was attending his first EU summit since succeeding Blair, says a referendum is not needed as the new pact is fundamentally different from the constitution.

He also left the summit trumpeting the "red lines" opt-outs on foreign policy, labour rights, common law and tax and social security, which Britain had secured.

But Tories say his motives are more basic: it is widely assumed that a British referendum would reject the EU treaty, especially with the help of a popular press which has long campaigned against a "European superstate."

And it's not just in Britain that the referendum calls are growing.

A Financial Times/Harris survey found that 70 percent of respondents in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain favour a vote on the new treaty.

Slovenia, which takes over the European Union's rotating presidency from Portugal in January, is well aware of the potential pitfalls.

"We are going to live with the shadow of ratification over our heads," a senior Slovenian official said recently.

Even though leaders are ready to use nearly any strategy to get the treaty smoothly ratified, many officials recognise that bypassing the voters will only add to citizens' apathy towards the EU.

Back in 2001, when the whole process began, EU leaders "promised to get closer to citizens and have clear texts," said former Belgian ambassador to the EU, Philippe de Schoutheete.

"But that's the opposite of what's happened. The treaty's preparation has been much less democratic than the convention that prepared the constitution and the text is a lot less clear," he said.

As a result the so-called democratic deficit "will get worse and we're going to pay the price the next time." Schoutheete added.

Some EU leaders know only too well how the elation of a successful summit can quickly dissipate.

Sarkozy rushed back to Paris on Friday to watch France lose the third place playoff in the rugby World Cup to Argentina.

Brown followed him into the Stade de France on Saturday to cheer on England as they went down to South Africa in the final.