The more one learns of this judgement the more one realises two things:-
1. The whole Treaty of Rome is ultra vires and the Lisbon treaty even more so; and -
2. no political party in Britain seems to care.
Christina
PRIVATE EYE 1241 24.7-6.8.09
Brussels Sprouts
Eurocrats in Brussels have become extremely cagey about the judgement of Germany’s highest court on the recycled EU Constitution, aka the Lisbon Treaty.
There was much backslapping when the Court said the treaty complied with Germany’s basic law, and could be adopted by the EU’s biggest country. But relief gave way to panic when closer analysis of the complex judgement showed that it severely curbs any notion of a federal Europe.
According to the German judges the European parliament is not a parliament in any proper sense (surprise !), and this is a “structural democratic deficit” which prevents further European integration. The judges also note that German law “prohibits the transfer [to the EU] of competence [‘competence’ is an EU expression meaning “constitutional power to --” -cs] to decide on its own competence.” In other words the European Commission must stop empire-building.
Most damning of all for the commission president Josê Manuel Barroso is that the German judges have decreed that Germany’s highest court should be able to overturn judgements of the European Court of Justice if they are not in line with national law. As the EU edifice is based on EU law having primacy in certain areas [almost all -cs] this would seem to question the entire European project. Barroso has said he will respond to the judgement “at a certain point”
More fudge anybody?
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