EU Nations sign 'Constitution Treaty'

[CaptainChewbacca]

BBC Link

EU leaders sign landmark treaty

EU leaders have signed a treaty in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, that is expected to greatly alter the way the 27-nation body operates.

The treaty creates an EU president and a more powerful foreign policy chief.

The document, signed at a ceremony at the city's historic Jeronimos Monastery, also scraps veto powers in many policy areas.

It is a replacement for the EU constitution, which was abandoned following French and Dutch opposition.

EU leaders insist that the two texts are in no way equivalent.

But the Lisbon treaty incorporates some of the draft constitution's key reforms, and several governments face domestic pressure over the document.

KEY LISBON TREATY REFORMS
Creates new European Council president
New foreign policy supremo to increase EU profile
Commissioners reduced from 27 to 18
Removes national vetoes in around 50 policy areas
Voting weights between member states redistributed
No reference to EU symbols such as the flag and anthem
Treaty faces referendum in Ireland and must be ratified by all other EU parliaments


Q&A: Lisbon Treaty
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Mark Mardell's Euroblog
In a speech before the signing, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on European leaders to use the treaty to make freedom, prosperity and solidarity an everyday reality for all European citizens.

"From this old continent, a new Europe is born," he said.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the treaty would create a more modern, efficient and democratic union.

"The world needs a stronger Europe," he said.

The leaders signed the treaty, translated into the EU's 23 official languages, using specially engraved silver fountain pens as a choir sang Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

UK signing

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown signed the treaty later in the day after missing the ceremony, citing a prior engagement in the British parliament.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband attended the signing ceremony.

The UK's opposition Conservatives accused Mr Brown of "not having the guts" to sign the treaty, which is politically controversial in Britain, in public.

Having started this year with a celebration of its 50th birthday, the EU hopes the signing of the Lisbon treaty will end the serious mid-life crisis brought about by the death of the constitution, the BBC's Oana Lungescu reports.

There will be a lot of relief, said a senior European diplomat, but also some apprehension about what happens next.

Ireland is the only country planning to hold a referendum, but most voters there seem either undecided or indifferent.

Parliaments in Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark are also expected to give a turbulent reception to the 250-page text.





Symbol of Portuguese history
However, Germany, France and Poland have pledged to be among the first to ratify it, so that the new reforms can come into force in 2009 as planned.

The treaty is a slimmed-down version of the European constitution, with a more modest name and without any reference to EU symbols such as the flag and anthem.

It is meant to ease decision-making, by scrapping national vetoes in some 50 policy areas, including sensitive ones such as police and judicial co-operation.

There will also be a foreign policy chief, controlling a big budget and thousands of diplomats and officials, and a permanent EU president appointed for up to five years.

But some already fear that instead of giving Europe a strong single voice in the world, the new posts will only generate more rivalry, our correspondent adds.

So, an appointed president, and a constitution not ratified by the people, but their governments. This doesn't seem it will end well.[/u]

[Chardok]

Civil war will result.

Don't laugh. Happened to us

[TheDarkling]

I'm fairly sure the US constitution was ratified by the peoples representatives rather than put to a popular vote.

However the EU constitution (or rather the replacement treaty added to the rest) is simply a club rule book and not a constitution in the sense people think.

[K. A. Pital]

Needless to remind the EU is a confederation, not a federation.

[The Guid]

However much I am in support of it, I think that it is something that the majority of British people are against in principle and also if they saw the detail of the document.

[Tribun]

You haven't heared as much about it in the news as we have.

Basically there isn't much left of the "constitution"(A stupid term, since that paper monster clearly isn't one) after going through several grinders. But we are used to it. Politicians hatch some high-in-the-clouds idea, politicians somehow get pulled back to the ground (various reasons), and in the end they can only agree on the smallest equal ground (which is next to nothing of the initial idea).

So this isn't really news here any longer (not even our national news service reported it today).

[Netko]

I'm glad there's finally movement - it finally passing will mean that our entry into the union can't be blocked on structural grounds that were hanging over it up until now. The alternative was a patch in the form of some language in our joining agreement modifying the Nice treaty with the needed modifications, but that would have been a very messy and dangerous patch considering that the agreement weighted by it would have to pass in all the current members - not such a clear cut proposition, while a pure membership agreement for Croatia unburdened by such clumsy fixes will probably sail through once its time comes (we're currently getting the most support in current members among candidate and potential candidate countries, around 60%-70%). So, on purely self-interest grounds I'm glad it passed.

That said, all the included modifications sound reasonable and welcomed (as did the constitution for that matter).

[Kane Starkiller]

I wonder what will be the future of UK in EU. It is clear that France-Germany alliance is pushing for a more integrated EU while UK favors it's special relationship with the US. So far UK was able to sit on two chairs but with further integrations how long will that be possible.

[TheDarkling]

I wonder what will be the future of UK in EU. It is clear that France-Germany alliance is pushing for a more integrated EU while UK favors it's special relationship with the US. So far UK was able to sit on two chairs but with further integrations how long will that be possible.

Opposition to integration has nothing to do with the US, in fact the one area the UK is at the forefront of integration (Defence) is the one which the US is the most opposed to.

[Siege]

The leaders signed the treaty, translated into the EU's 23 official languages, using specially engraved silver fountain pens as a choir sang Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

You gotta admit, that does reek of style .

Anyway, I'm glad this means finally getting rid of this 'everyone's gotta agree with everybody' nonsense that made the - enlarged - Union nearly unmanageable. That alone is worth the treaty, and I really fail to care about how it's not being put to the vote of the people themselves. Frankly, during the last vote on the topic over here (The Netherlands) the public proved itself utterly incapable of grasping what the fuck this was even about, instead chosing to let itself be influenced by bollocks arguments like 'oh we think the Euro made life more expensive, so we'll vote against this constitution thing'. To me, that was a textbook example of why we need representative government rather than letting the electorate vote on everything themselves. Because frankly, 99% of the time the electorate hasn't got a fucking clue what it's supposed to vote about.

[Androsphinx]

Our beloved PM was, in a suprisingly well-thought-out gesture, late - he turned up during coffee at the after-party, having stayed in London for a Parliamentary committee.

[Broomstick]

Needless to remind the EU is a confederation, not a federation.

The original 13 colonies tried confederation. Didn't last long, though - that's how we got the Constitution and our current Federal/State system. The Confederate States of America in the 1860's was actually the second try at confederacy.

But, hey, good luck with that.

[Broomstick]

I'm fairly sure the US constitution was ratified by the peoples representatives rather than put to a popular vote.

If by "people" you mean "land owning white men", yeah, sort of - though if I recall correctly the US Continental Congress was an appointed body. It's been awhile since I studied the matter (about 30 years, in fact) but I think the CC was appointed by colonial governing bodies which were elected by voters (that is, white men who owned land).