EU leaders
hope 2009 will be the year
that the Lisbon Treaty
finally comes into effect,
after months of delay.
The treaty is
aimed at streamlining EU
institutions to make the
enlarged bloc of 27 states
function better. Opponents
say it is part of a
federalist EU agenda that
threatens national
sovereignty.
The treaty
was rejected by Irish voters
in a referendum on 12 June
2008 and, under EU rules, it
cannot enter into force if
any of the 27 member states
fails to ratify it.
Signed in
Lisbon in December 2007, the
treaty was drawn up to
replace the draft European
constitution, which was
thrown out by voters in
France and the Netherlands
in 2005. Opponents, and even
some of the constitution's
architects, say Lisbon
differs little from the
constitution.
Can the EU
still complete ratification?
Yes, but it
is not clear what will
happen if Irish voters
reject the treaty again in a
second referendum this year.
That could scupper the
treaty, or at least further
delay its implementation.
At a December
summit EU leaders agreed on
a "roadmap" to get round the
blockage caused by the
Republic of Ireland's No
vote.
The Irish
government agreed to put the
Lisbon Treaty to a second
referendum by November 2009,
in return for a set of EU
"legal guarantees" aimed at
addressing various concerns
raised by voters. The EU
pledges not to impose rules
on Ireland concerning
taxation, "family" issues -
such as abortion, euthanasia
and gay marriage - and the
traditional Irish state
neutrality.
Announcing
the new Lisbon deal, French
President Nicolas Sarkozy
also said that under Lisbon
"every member state will
have a commissioner" -
another concession to
Ireland. That promise might
prove difficult to reconcile
with the original plan under
Lisbon to have fewer
commissioners than member
states, as from 2014.
LISBON TREATY
PROGRESS
Approved by
parliament: Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, The Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, UK
Defeated by
referendum: Irish Republic
Challenges:
Legal objections delayed
ratification in Czech
Republic, Polish president
also delaying ratification.
The Irish
"protocol" will be bolted
onto Croatia's treaty of
accession, which will have
to be approved by all 27
member states. Mr Sarkozy
said that would happen "in
2010 or 2011".
Mr Sarkozy
again ruled out any
renegotiation of Lisbon. The
only countries that have not
yet ratified it are the
Czech Republic, Ireland and
Poland.
Czech
ratification is complicated
by the fact that Czech
President Vaclav Klaus, a
Eurosceptic, does not like
the treaty. And the Czech
Prime Minister, Mirek
Topolanek, says Lisbon
ratification depends on
whether MPs vote for the
government's plan to host a
US radar base. But as
current holder of the EU
presidency the Czech
Republic will not want to be
embarrassed over Lisbon.
In the UK,
the opposition Conservatives
want a referendum on Lisbon.
If they were to win an early
general election they could
conceivably delay
ratification further.
Hungary was
the first of 25 countries to
approve the treaty in
parliament.
Poland's
President Lech Kaczynski has
refused to sign the treaty
for the time being, calling
it "pointless". He says he
is waiting for the Irish
question to be resolved.
Was Ireland
the only country to hold a
referendum?
Yes. Most EU
leaders argue that Lisbon is
an amending treaty which
does not transform EU
structures to the extent
that a referendum is
necessary.
That position
is rejected by the Irish No
camp and the British
Conservatives, as well as by
many Eurosceptics across the
EU.
One of the
Irish No camp's leaders,
Declan Ganley, says his
party Libertas will compete
for seats in all EU states
in the June European
Parliament elections.
According to
an Irish Supreme Court
ruling in 1987, any major
amendment to an EU treaty
entails an amendment to the
Irish constitution - and
that in turn requires a
referendum.
How similar
is Lisbon to the draft
constitution?
It contains
many of the changes the
constitution attempted to
introduce, for example:
-
A
politician chosen to be
president of the
European Council for
two-and-a-half years,
replacing the current
system where countries
take turns at being
president for six
months.
-
A new
post combining the jobs
of the existing foreign
affairs supremo, Javier
Solana, and the external
affairs commissioner,
Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
to give the EU more
clout on the world
stage.
-
A smaller
European Commission,
with fewer commissioners
than there are member
states, from 2014.
-
A
redistribution of voting
weights between the
member states, phased in
between 2014 and 2017 -
qualified majority
voting based on a
"double majority" of 55%
of member states,
accounting for 65% of
the EU's population.
-
New
powers for the European
Commission, European
Parliament and European
Court of Justice, for
example in the field of
justice and home
affairs.
-
Removal
of national vetoes in a
number of areas.
Most European
leaders acknowledge that the
main substance of the
constitution would be
preserved.
If it
contains the same substance,
why is the Lisbon Treaty not
a constitution?
The
constitution attempted to
replace all earlier EU
treaties and start afresh,
whereas the new treaty
amends the Treaty on the
European Union (Maastricht)
and the Treaty Establishing
the European Community
(Rome).
It also drops
all reference to the symbols
of the EU - the flag, the
anthem and the motto -
though these will continue
to exist.
How long did
it take to agree the treaty?
The effort to
draft a constitution began
in February 2002 and took
two-and-a-half years, but
that text became obsolete
when it was rejected by
French and Dutch voters in
2005.
Work began in
earnest on a replacement
treaty during the German EU
presidency, in the first
half of 2007, and agreement
on the main points of the
new treaty was reached at a
summit in June that year.
Negotiations
continued behind the scenes
over the following months
before a final draft was
agreed by the leaders of the
27 member states in October
2007.
Why was the
constitution dropped?
France and
the Netherlands said they
would be unable to adopt the
constitutional treaty
without significant changes,
following the 2005
referendums.
The UK also
pressed hard for a modest
"amending treaty", which
could be ratified by means
of a parliamentary vote,
like earlier EU treaties.
Does the
Charter of Fundamental
Rights feature in the new
treaty?
No. There is
a reference to it, making it
legally binding, but the
full text does not appear,
even in an annex.
The UK has
secured a written guarantee
that the charter cannot be
used by the European Court
to alter British labour law,
or other laws that deal with
social rights. However,
experts are divided on how
effective this will be.
Are any
countries seeking opt-outs?
Ireland and
the UK currently have an
opt-out from European
policies concerning asylum,
visas and immigration. Under
the new treaty they will
have the right to opt in or
out of any policies in the
entire field of justice and
home affairs.
Poland is
also due to sign up to the
guarantees on the Charter of
Fundamental Rights
negotiated by the UK. During
the treaty negotiations,
Polish leaders voiced
concern that the charter
could contradict Polish law
in moral and family matters.
Denmark will
continue with its existing
opt-out from justice and
home affairs, but will gain
the right under the new
treaty to opt for the
pick-and-choose system.
When will the
new treaty kick in?
The
pre-referendum plan is in
disarray now. Originally,
the treaty was supposed to
come into force in January
2009.
The schedule
- which may well change -
currently looks like this:
• The High
Representative on foreign
affairs will not start work
until the treaty has been
ratified. The new president
of the European Council
could also start work at
that point.
• The
European elections in June
2009 will be held under the
existing Nice Treaty. That
means there will be 736
seats in the European
Parliament - down from the
current 785. Under the
Lisbon plan, the number will
be fixed at 751.
• Although a
new European Commission will
be chosen in October 2009,
its size will not be slimmed
down until 2014.
• Some
extensions of qualified
majority voting in the
European Council are already
in place, such as the
appointment of the new
commission president and the
High Representative for
Common Foreign and Security
Policy - but Poland's
objections over voting
weights mean the
redistribution of votes will
not come in until after
2014.
It could be
at least 10 years before the
process is complete.
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