German court holds up ratification of EU reform treaty (1st Lead)

Karlsruhe, Germany - Germany's highest court ruled Tuesday that the Lisbon Treaty on European Union reform is compatible with German law, but held back approval for immediate ratification. German opponents of the reform treaty challenged it in the nation's constitutional court, arguing the document undermined German sovereignty. Both houses of the German parliament have endorsed the treaty, but President Horst Koehler withheld his signature pending the decision by the constitutional court. The court ruled that Germany's approval of the treaty was constitutional, but said changes were needed in German legislation implementing it in order to ensure parliament maintained a key role in matters of national sovereignty. Only when this happened could ratification be completed, the court's vice president, Andreas Vosskuhle, said in reading out the 150-page judgement. 'The court is optimistic that the last hurdle before ratification will be cleared quickly,' he added. The case was brought by a group led by Peter Gauweiler, a maverick deputy in Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), and the radical Left Party. The Left claims the treaty breaches parliamentary rights. In addition to Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ireland have still to approve the treaty before it can come into force at the start of 2010. Outright rejection of the treaty would have sounded a death knell for the future of the 27 EU states' reform process. The Lisbon Treaty replaced the earlier proposed EU constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in referendums in 2005. The treaty would, among other reforms, create a post of president of the European Union, and a permanent high representative for foreign affairs, and bring in more qualified majority voting.