On the long and winding road to Lisbon Photo: flickr/t0m ka
The Lisbon treaty worries us again, also in Germany. Is it a never-ending story? So far only 23 of 27 EU states have sent their ratification documents to Rome. Still pending are the ratification documents of four countries: Ireland - we all know about the famous “No” in june 2008 and the upcoming new referendum, probably in April this year. The Czech Republic - here, we are all interested to see what turn of the tide the Czech presidency might achieve. Poland - where the Kaczynski brothers have heated the anti-EU debate, but after only one of the twins is still in power, the Poles might find their true identity again, as the “Heart of Europe” (Norman Davies) lies in the Polish city of Wroclaw.
The last of the four bad guys is - can you believe it - Germany. Honestly, I can’t.
How come, that one of the founding fathers (mothers?) of the EU, or, let’s be correct, of the pre-runner, the Montanunion, is now holding back the Lisbon treaty with already the second complaint at Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court? The first one, made by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler (CSU), has now had a two-day hearing on 10 and 11 February (Franziska has already posted on this event for Th!ink about it) and the outcome might be in his favour. He thinks, in short, that the German political bodies will give too much power to the EU political bodies once the treaty will be binding. Much shorter, he does not want Germany to be part of a supranational state. Meanwhile, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has analysed the hearings (there hasn’t been a court decision yet), saying that the constitution will probably be passed, but that the German judiciary might want to have the last word - in certain cases - and fight for extra-protocols.
In an interview on Jochen Bittners blog for the German weekly Die Zeit, Gauweiler argues even more strongly, saying, that the German Federal Constitutional Court should protect the German Basic Constitutional Law from EU decisions. I am wondering: Why is he afraid of the EU? Why should we all be protected from it? As far as I have understood the debate, it is a question of levels. Either you want more powerful European bodies making European politics more relevant for all of us, or you are for national approaches (where you would not really need the European Parliament at all).
Or would there also be an alternative? I have asked Peter Gauweiler via email and I am looking forward to his response.
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