Europe News
BACKGROUND: German Lisbon Treaty ratification uncertain on Irish no
Jun 13, 2008, 16:14 GMT
Berlin - The Irish no to the European Union's Lisbon Treaty Friday has cast uncertainty over the German ratification process.
While both houses of the German parliament have passed the legislation ratifying the treaty - the only party to oppose it was the minority Left - German President Horst Koehler has yet to sign it.
But Peter Gauweiler, a member of the Lower House, the Bundestag, for Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), applied to the Constitutional Court to have the treaty ruled unconstitutional.
Gauweiler cited objections similar to those heard from the no side in Ireland and to those voiced by eurosceptic members of Britain's Conservative Party - that the treaty impinges on German sovereignty, in particular on the rights of German citizens to representation by members of the German parliament.
The situation in Germany facing the Lisbon Treaty after the Irish no is similar to that faced by the European Constitution in 2005.
After the German parliament had passed the European Constitution in May 2005, Gauweiler raised similar objections and Koehler waited for the court to rule.
The rejections by the French and Dutch electorates in the middle of that year brought the process to a halt. The German Constitutional Court did not rule, and Koehler did not sign.
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OxhöfterMay 26th, 2009 - 20:27:11
Thanks to the Irish, the German Basic law is hanging in the air:
Also, the German ATC rules are waiting for the Bundespräsident to sign the new lAW: Aviation safety at stake...
Thank, Irish!
Schutzwart
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