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Germany president ratifies EU reform treaty

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] German President Horst Koehler on Friday signed the EU reform treaty, known as the Lisbon Treaty, completing the ratification process. The signature was the final step for ratification, after the Bundesrat gave final approval earlier this week to a bill setting out the process for ratification. Although both houses of Germany's parliament had previously approved the treaty, the German Constitutional Court ruled in June that the treaty could not be ratified without certain parliamentary reforms ensuring Germany's sovereignty. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso thanked Germany for ratifying the treaty, calling it an "important step towards more capacity to act, democratic accountability and influence at global level." Efforts to ratify the treaty in all of the 27 member countries required for approval have met some obstacles. Although the treaty has been approved in 23 countries, Irish voters rejected the treaty last year, leading Czech President Vaclav Klaus to refuse to sign the measure, despite approval by the Czech Senate. In July 2008, Polish President Lech Kaczynski also refused to sign the treaty despite parliamentary approval, calling it "pointless" in light of the Irish rejection. Ireland agreed in June to hold a second referendum after EU leaders agreed to certain concessions. The referendum is scheduled for next week.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 25, 2009 (boomark / email).