Karlsruhe, Germany - Germany's top court ruled Tuesday
that the Lisbon Treaty is compatible with German law, but said
parliament's role must be strengthened before it can formally be
ratified.
German opponents of the treaty, which is designed to streamline
the running of the European Union, challenged it in the
constitutional court, arguing that the document undermined German
sovereignty.
Both houses of the German parliament have endorsed the treaty,
which was signed by EU leaders in 2007. But President Horst Koehler
withheld his signature pending the decision by the top court.
'The Basic Law says 'yes' to the Lisbon Treaty, but demands a
strengthening of parliamentary responsibilities at the national
level,' said the court's vice president, Andreas Vosskuhle.
Only when this happened could ratification be completed,
Vosskuhle said in reading out the 150-page judgement. 'The
court is optimistic the final 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 to draft 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 on September 27.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was optimistic the ratification
process would be completed before the 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 Merkel's Christian Democrats.
The Left Party also sought an injunction against the treaty,
claiming it breached parliamentary rights.
Outright rejection of the treaty by the German court would have
sounded a death knell for the future of the 27 EU states' reform
process.
In addition to Germany, three other countries - Poland, the Czech
Republic and Ireland - have still to approve the treaty before it can
come into force at the start of 2010.
The biggest hurdle is likely to be a second public referendum on
the treaty in Ireland, after voters there rejected it in June 2008.
The Lisbon Treaty replaced the earlier proposed EU constitution,
which was vetoed 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.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, welcomed the German
court ruling.
'I am confident that, with this judgement, the court has cleared
the way for a swift conclusion of the German ratification,' he said
in a statement released in Brussels.
'I am confident that we can complete the process of ratification
of the Treaty of Lisbon in all countries by the autumn,' he added.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country takes over the
EU presidency on Wednesday, told journalists in Sweden that the court
decision 'is not a big sensation.'
He said it would not influence the presidency timetable and that
it was 'not necessarily a bad thing' to strengthen the role of
parliament.
In its ruling, the court noted the German parliament had 'not been
accorded sufficient rights of participation in European lawmaking
procedures and treaty amendment procedures.'
It said the process of European unity should 'not be allowed to
undermine the ruling democratic order in Germany.'
Members of the EU should have sufficient scope for political
decision making in relation to economic, cultural and social living
conditions, it said.
In particular, this applied to criminal law, police issues, the
military, tax matters, social expenditure and family law, the judges
wrote in their ruling.
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