EU Lisbon Treaty and Irish Conditions

EU closes on deal on Irish Lisbon demands
Yesterday, 07:27 pm
Timothy Heritage

The European Union moved closer to a deal Tuesday to offer Ireland legal guarantees on national sovereignty that would increase the chances of Irish voters backing a treaty reforming EU decision making. Skip related content

Ireland is confident a deal will be reached in time for EU leaders to approve it at a two-day summit starting Thursday. The Irish government would then be likely to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon reform treaty in September or October.
The leaders will also back Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term as president of the executive European Commission at the summit, discuss financial regulatory reforms, step up the fight against unemployment and plot strategy for U.N. climate talks.

"There is a broad consensus on the text. The only country still wavering is Britain," an EU diplomat said of negotiations in Brussels on a draft of the proposed guarantees.

After Irish voters rejected the treaty in a referendum last June, Dublin is seeking assurance on issues including taxation, abortion and military neutrality, and wants to continue to have a representative on the European Commission. Britain had said the assurances on national sovereignty in military matters should be worded to make clear it applied to all EU states, not just Ireland, a second EU diplomat said. While all accepted the final text would be legally binding, Britain also wanted more debate on which legal instrument the EU should choose to express the guarantees, the diplomat added.

Ireland's referendum is vital because reforms intended to streamline decision making in the EU and give it more weight on the world stage can go into force only if all 27 member states approve the Lisbon treaty. Opinion polls suggest the treaty now has the support of a majority of Irish voters, many of whom look to Europe as a shield in the global financial crisis.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, President of the Green/European Free Alliance group (corrected from original text) at the European Parliament, has launched an anti-Barroso campaign, saying Barroso has promoted free markets at the expense of social concerns, but so far no one else is standing for the job.

The EU leaders will call at the summit for progress on reforming the financial regulatory system to prevent another global economic crisis, including regulation of alternative investment funds and improved capital requirements for banks. They are also set to approve the creation of two new bodies to assess potential threats to financial stability and protect small financial firms and consumers, and call for the new regulatory framework to be in place in 2010.

The action coincides with U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to outline regulatory reforms Wednesday, targeting critical weaknesses in the U.S. financial system such as thin bank capital cushions and eroded lending standards.

Comment:
Daniel Cohn-Bendit was a notable student leader in the 1968 stand-off with the French government. Slogan of the time "We are all German Jews!"