Brussels, 12/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - The “roadmap” intended to break deadlock over the Irish ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and allow the entry into force of the new treaty by end 2009 is on track. As foreseen and announced in yesterday's edition (EUROPE 9802), the European Council gave its official approval, on Friday 12 December, of the plan put forward by the French EU Presidency. The plan states that “Ireland is committed to seeking ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of the term of the current Commission”. The Irish prime minister announced immediately after Friday's meeting that he would be calling a second referendum. “On the basis of what we have achieved today, I am confident that we are on the right track” for holding and winning a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, said Brian Cowen. He did not set a date for calling the Irish back to the urns but diplomats believe this could be in September or October next year. The only deadline set by the European Council is that for the end of the term of office of the current Commission. Normally, it will expire on 31 October 2009 but José Manuel Barroso has already pointed out that he would be willing to extend this by one or two months to await entry into force of the new treaty (EUROPE 9702), which would give the Irish more room for manoeuvre in their ratification timetable.
On Friday, in exchange for the promise of referendum, Ireland obtained the “legal guarantees” that it had been calling for (see below). These will be integrated into the Treaty in the form of legally binding protocols at the time of the next revision required for the Treaty, most likely at the moment of Croatia's accession, Nicolas Sarkozy told the press. The compromise makes it possible to ensure that the ratification procedure for the Lisbon Treaty should not be begun all over again as, “in order to give legal value to the guarantees given to the Irish, we have undertaken to ensure that, at the time of the next enlargement in 2010 or 2011, when a new accession treaty will be needed (…), we shall take this opportunity to add an Irish protocol to the accession treaty for Croatia”, the president-in-office of the European Council said. He also seized this opportunity to recall the important change that the new treaty will bring regarding the permanent European Council presidency. “No-one can challenge the fact that a stable presidency with real leadership powers is needed … not just for six months but for two years”, he said.
On the subject of the Irish commissioner, the EU27 took the political commitment to “take a decision” so that the Commission may in future continue to include a representative from each member state, on condition that the Lisbon Treaty enters into force. The decision should be taken unanimously as stipulated in the Lisbon Treaty. On Thursday evening, the leaders of the three Benelux countries raised the problem of “institutional balance” (carefully put together during negotiation on the Lisbon Treaty), which would be shaken by keeping a large Commission, which is less effective than a restricted Commission. However, these reservations no longer played a part in the debate or in Friday's final approval. Mr Sarkozy denies that a large Commission is less effective than a smaller one. On the contrary, he said, “our proposal makes it stronger”.
Regarding the other concerns expressed by the Irish - neutrality; tax policy; social, ethical and family issues - “these should be addressed to the mutual satisfaction of Ireland and the other member states by way of the necessary legal guarantees”, it is stipulated in the conclusions. In concrete terms, it is stated that: - no provision of the Treaty will in any way change the extent or the implementation of EU competence in the taxation field; - the new Treaty does not affect the security and defence policy of member states, or Ireland's neutrality; - the provisions of the Irish Constitution concerning the right to life, education and the family will not in any way be affected by the fact that the Lisbon Treaty grants legal status to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; - and the Union reaffirms the great importance it attaches to these matters, “including workers' rights”. It is interesting to note that the conclusions of the European Council do not specify the exact form that such guarantees will take. However, as pointed out above, Mr Sarkozy said during his press conference that these will be expressed in a “protocol” to be added to the treaty. On Thursday evening, Gordon Brown had expressed reserve regarding the exact scope of the “guarantees”. The British prime minister feared that the concessions made to the Irish could change, if only by a comma, the Treaty that, it must be remembered, was ratified with great difficulty by the British parliament, when the Conservative opposition was calling for a referendum. Any change to the text could have encouraged British eurosceptics to call for a new ratification of the Treaty. At Mr Brown's request, the Council's legal department clarified the situation during the night of Thursday to Friday, which allowed the British prime minister to give his approval of the text on Friday morning. “There is nothing that deserves reopening of the debate on ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The guarantees given to the Irish do not in any way change our red lines”, Mr Brown told the press. Polish President Lech Kazcynski said he will be signing the Polish ratification law.
We would also note that the increased number of MEPs, from 736 to 754, during the period 2009-2014 as announced on Thursday (EUROPE 9802) was confirmed on Friday by the European Council. (H.B./transl.jl)