Brussels, 27/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has launched an appeal for unity among the left wing of the Socialist party and the Greens who support his government as regards the process of the ratification of the budgetary pact which is getting under way in France. “Once a decision of this level of importance has been taken, it must be respected (…). In order to continue to have influence in Europe, the president and the government need clear and solid support from the parliamentary majority”, he told an interview with Journal du Dimanche (our translation).
Last week and at the summer university of the French Socialist party, voices were raised in opposition to the treaty to reinforce budgetary discipline, agreed on by 25 countries in the spring. The Green party, two members of which have a seat in the government, takes this line. The French Constitutional Court decided over the summer that the French State was not obliged to modify its constitution in order to integrate the budgetary pact into its national law. Mr Ayrault's government now needs a smaller majority (than if the constituion were to be modified) at the Parliament to push through the bill, which will be presented on Wednesday 19 September.
Ratification by 12 countries of the Eurozone will be needed for the budgetary treaty to enter into force (see EUROPE 10566). The definitive adoption of the law on German ratification is conditional upon a decision by the Constitutional Court of Karlsruhe, which is due on Wednesday 12 September, on the consequences of the European Treaty and the European Stability Mechanism on the democratic process in Germany. (MB/transl.fl)