Brussels, 08/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - The Slovenian presidency of the EU has welcomed France's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which happened on Thursday evening (8 February). The French ratification is an important step towards the entry into force of the new Treaty on 1 January 2009, which “will guarantee a more democratic and more efficient European Union”, the presidency states in a press release. The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, also welcomed the French vote. “The adoption of the Lisbon Treaty by the National Assembly and then by the French Senate is a strong sign of a desire to modernise the European institutions to allow the European Union to function more efficiently and more transparently”, said Mr Barroso, who added that “with this decision, France is expressing its desire to provide the institutions of the Europe of the 21st-century with powers corresponding to the challenges of globalisation”. Being amongst the first countries to have ratified the new treaty (France is the fifth member state to do so), “France is also confirming its desire to commit to the very highest European levels”, Mr Barroso continued. Due to the “special significance” of the French vote, the Commission president even decided to call a press conference in the European Commission premises on Friday. This is a special event, because “France was behind the problem (further to the rejection of the draft European Constitution by the French population in May 2005) and it was also behind the solution to the institutional problem, with the proposal by President Sarkozy for a simplified treaty”, said Mr Barosso. It is also important that France has concluded the ratification process before its presidency of the EU starts in the second half of 2008, added the president of the Commission, who also voiced his approval of the “broad outlines” of the programme of the forthcoming presidency of the EU.
When asked by the press about the fact that the French people had not had the opportunity to take position by referendum a second time on the new Treaty of the EU, Mr Barroso reacted with indignation. First of all, it is up to the member states themselves to decide by what means they ratify the treaty. Secondly, stating or implying that parliamentary ratification is any less democratic than ratification by referendum is “unacceptable” and “anti-democratic”, because this would call into question the fundamentals of the rule of law. The Parliament is not a second-choice institution of democracy, “it is the very centre of it”, stressed Mr Barroso.
In Slovakia, meantime, the Parliamentary ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon was postponed on 7 February for the third time and for an indeterminate period, due to an internal dispute between the parties of the government of Robert Fico and the opposition MPs on the subject of a draft media bill.
In Ireland, where a referendum is to be held (most likely before the summer), the leader of the
Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore TD, has launched an appeal for all left-wing parties in Ireland to vote in favour of the new Treaty. (H.B.)