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,
which was agreed by EU leaders in 2007, but President Horst Koehler
withheld his signature pending the decision by the constitutional
court.
The court ruled that changes were needed in domestic legislation
implementing the Lisbon treaty 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.
In response to the court decision, the German lower house or
Bundestag agreed to meet in August on a law giving parliament more
powers in matters related to EU affairs.
A second reading of the bill is scheduled for September 8, less
than three weeks before the nation goes to the polls in a general
election.
The legal challenge to the treaty was mounted by more than 50
federal legislators, among them Peter Gauweiler, a maverick
deputy in the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party
of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.
The Left Party also sought an injunction against the
treaty, claiming it breached 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.
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