Brussels, 05/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Friday afternoon, the Portuguese Presidency published the text of the EU amending treaty, finalised by the legal experts of member states on 2 October (EUROPE 9514), on its internet site (http://www.eu2007.pt ). The text, which is of great legal complexity, will be discussed by the foreign ministers during the General Affairs Council on 15 October. It should then be approved by the heads of state and government in Lisbon on 19 October.
In the end, the work of the legal experts was considerably hampered by the protocols relating to the British and Irish derogations in the field of JHA. The text published on Friday stipulates that: - as far as the Schengen Agreement is concerned, the United Kingdom and Ireland (which both benefit from a general “opt-out” but have decided in the past to take part in a number of provisions of the Schengen system) may in future decide not to take part in the new “building measures”, even if they directly concern existing provisions in which they have taken part. After the Commission's proposal, the two countries have three months in which to announce their desire not to take part. In this case the Commission will study the consequences that non-participation will have on application of existing measures and will make a proposal to the Council. The Council should decide within four months, by qualified majority, whether it accepts the “opt out”, taking particular account of the impact that this non-participation would have on the consistency and correct practical functioning of the various components of the Schengen acquis. If the Council refuses the “opt-out” request, it may decide to exclude the two countries from the existing provision. In this case, the financial consequences of this exclusion should be shouldered by both countries which may nonetheless call on the European Council. The latter will then enact by qualified majority during its next meeting. At any moment, the United Kingdom and Ireland may go back on their opt-out decision. At this stage, only the United Kingdom has formally asked to benefit from this exemption but - according to the mandate approved in June - Ireland may also benefit from the same provision (the Irish government has until 12 October to announce what it has decided); - in terms of the competence of the European Court of Justice for JHA issues (formerly the third pillar), the text stipulates that the Court's control over EU action in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters decided before the treaty comes into force (2009) will be suspended for all member states during a five-year transition period (in other words until 2014). Following which, the United Kingdom would be able to opt out of the controls but this would mean that the existing measures the UK used to be involved in would no longer apply. The UK would then have to bear the direct financial costs arising from it no longer participating in the action in question.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese Presidency said it was optimistic about being able to complete the IGC by 19 October. On Thursday, Portuguese foreign minister Luis Amado said that there was a genuine political will. Poland has said it would no longer be threatening a veto despite the upcoming elections on 21 October, only two days ahead of the Summit. Last Thursday, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said that as far as he was concerned, the constitutional treaty was a thing of the past as a compromise had already been reached. He said he was pleased with the text, as fine-tuned by legal experts and there were only a few details remaining to be checked. The Polish request to include the “Ioannina compromise” in the treaty itself (despite it only being a political statement) may well be included in these “details”. Particularly because Kaczynski said on Thursday that he hoped that all that had been agreed by the IGC in June 2007 would be incorporated in the treaty, including Ioannina. (hb)