Saturday, 4 July 2009



Press review / Archive / Dossier

Main focus of Wednesday, July 1, 2009


EU Treaty compatible with the German Basic Law

The EU Reform Treaty is compatible with the German Basic Law. This was the decision reached on Tuesday by Germany's Federal Constitutional Court. Neverthelesss the judgement delays the ongoing ratification process by demanding more involvement by the German Bundestag in the transfer of competencies to the EU.


Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

Heribert Prantl comments in the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on the German Federal Constitutional Court's judgement concerning the Treaty of Lisbon: "This judgement doesn't fiddle around with Europe, it doesn't box its ears with its own shortcomings. It outlines how Europe can be constructed. These judges aren't critics of Europe, but eight European democrats. ... This judgement puts the onus on the Bundestag, which will no longer simply be able to wave through the European legal framework. It's no longer possible to give blanket endorsement to an EU Treaty. The Bundestag will have to address each and every additional competence accorded to Brussels and provided for by the EU Treaty. The EU will no longer be able to unilaterally appropriate German competences. The excuse 'that's what they decided in Brussels' is no longer in the cards." (01/07/2009)

» full article (external link, German) 
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Crime and Law, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Heribert Prantl


Lidové noviny - Czech Republic

The conservative daily Lidové Noviny comments on the German Constitutional Court's ruling on the EU reform treaty: "The opponents of the Treaty of Lisbon yesterday [Tuesday] had to kiss goodbye to yet another and admittedly rather hypothetical hope. The Federal Constitutional Court ruled that Lisbon is compatible with the German constitution while at the same time adding a big 'but' to its judgement. The judges in Karlsruhe may be more conservative and Eurosceptical than the average German, but they don't live in a vacuum. Therefore from the very start it was clear they wouldn't have the courage to swim against the current and go to war with pretty much the entire political establishment. … The members of the Bundestag must now decide on a similar solution to what [their Czech colleagues of the liberal conservative Civic Democrats party] the ODS came up with: both here and in the Czech Republic the important thing is to ensure that member states don't simply hand over powers to Brussels with the blessing of their governments." (01/07/2009)

» more information (external link, Czech) 
More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Daniel Kaiser


Corriere della Sera - Italy

According to the liberal conservative daily Corriere della Sera the German constitutional judges' ruling on the Lisbon Treaty is above all proof of the follwing: "Europe is neither federalist nor a super state as some would say. It is a Europe of nations. The court in Karlsruhe has decided that the Treaty must be accompanied by a letter that explicitly reaffirms that power of the German parliament. … In a series of matters Brussels cannot decide alone. … In the areas of police, military, taxes, social legislation, family law and penal law the Bundestag and the Bundesrat [the lower and upper houses of the German parliament, respectively] are to remain at the core of the decision-making process even after the Treaty comes into effect. … The political reaction to the Karlsruhe ruling was one of great relief - a sign of a certain degree of concern that prevailed among the major parties, even if they didn't show it openly. … But even those who brought the case before the Karlsruhe court, the Left Party led by Oskar Lafontaine and some conservatives with Bavaria's Christian Socialist Union, are content with the judgement because it underlines national sovereignty and democracy." (01/07/2009)

» more information (external link, Italian) 
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Germany
All available articles from » Danilo Taino


Elsevier - Netherlands

The Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on the Lisbon treaty shows that concerns about a loss of national sovereignty are justified, writes Carla Joosten in her Europe blog for the conservative liberal weekly Elsevier: "The Dutch, French and Irish were seen as malcontents by the rest of the European Union because they voted against the constitution. But this reproach must be taken back following the ruling of Germany's highest juristic body. In the opinion of the court, without amendments to the German Basic Law Germany will be surrendering too much power to the European Union. … What does this judgement mean for the sovereignty of other member states? Should they not also build a guarantee into their own legislation in order to secure their right to self-determination? Following the guarantees for Ireland … the EU leaders had hoped that the treaty's long ordeal had ended. But that seems to have been a vain hope." (01/07/2009)

» full article (external link, Dutch) 
More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Carla Joosten


» To the complete press review of Wednesday, July 1, 2009


Posted by Britannia Radio at 11:27