GERMAN CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel is facing a last-minute Lisbon Treaty headache after her conservative Bavarian allies vowed to make ratification dependent on agreeing “maximum” parliamentary influence over future EU policy.
Germany’s highest court ruled on Tuesday that, though the treaty was compatible with Germany’s constitution, ratification must be postponed until an accompanying law gave parliament approval over every transfer of powers to Brussels.
With Dr Merkel anxious to ratify Lisbon before September’s general election, the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) have spotted an opportunity to squeeze concessions from their Christian Democrat (CDU) sister party.
“We don’t want the minimum under the constitution for the parliament but the absolute maximum,” said Thomas Silberhorn, CSU parliamentary spokesman on EU affairs.
“We want to see the Bundestag strengthened and agreement on proposals that already carry the signature of the CDU/CSU.” He is referring to a draft law from the party, then in opposition, from January 2005 that was rejected by the government as too far-reaching.
The CSU is calling for the Karlsruhe ruling, and all its proposals, to be incorporated into the ratification Bill. In addition, the party is calling for a new legal framework to allow Karlsruhe judges examine all incoming EU legislation and, if requested by MPs, provide preliminary judgments on EU laws before they are put to parliamentary vote.
The CSU is also calling for a reworking of German-EU relations along Austrian lines, allowing the government to act independently in Brussels but to oblige it to take note of subsequent rulings by the European parliamentary committee in Berlin.
Though essentially pro-EU, the CSU party likes to distinguish itself from the CDU, particularly in European affairs. It has called for the introduction of referendums in Germany on EU affairs, and it was a CSU MP who led the challenge to the Lisbon Treaty.
With time so tight, politicians on all sides in Berlin know they have only one attempt to pass a revised accompanying law to the Lisbon Treaty. Dr Merkel’s grand coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), have warned the German leader that, if necessary, the Bill will be passed with opposition help. “The Bundestag approved the treaty with over 90 per cent support,” said Mr Axel Schäfer, SPD parliamentary spokesman for EU affairs. “Now the chancellor’s authority depends on getting this through before the general election.”
