Brussels, 27/08/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 26 August, during a special session, the Bundestag discussed a draft complementary law aimed at making the Lisbon Treaty compatible with fundamental German law. The draft law aims to specify the role of the national parliament in developing European legislation. It will be formally presented to the Bundestag and Bundesrat on 8 and 18 September.
Ratification of the treaty by the German authorities depends on adoption of this law since the judgement given by the German constitutional court on 30 June, which called for the rights of the German parliament to be guaranteed in European legislative procedures (EUROPE 9932). The “accompanying” law will make it an obligation for the parliament to consult the Bundestag whenever it participates in the development of legislation in certain predefined areas. This is in the interest of safeguarding the democratic dimension of EU law. “We do not want a Europe of the governments, we want a people's Europe”, said Norbert Röttgen, who leads the CDU/CSU group at the Bundestag. The “accompanying law” (Begleitungsgesetz) in its current version would not make Bundestag responses during these consultations binding. (C.D./transl.jl)