EU lawyers agree on treaty text (Constitution for Europe, Take 2).

BBC ^ | Tuesday, October 2, 2007. | Oana Lungescu

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

A draft constitution was previously rejected by French and Dutch voters

Legal experts from the 27 countries of the European Union have agreed on a draft reform treaty.

The treaty is set to replace the defunct European constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters.

Portugal, which holds the EU presidency until the end of the year, hopes to get agreement on the treaty at an EU summit in Lisbon later this month.

Possible domestic opposition to the treaty in Poland and Britain mean they may present the biggest hurdles.

The treaty aims to streamline the workings of the EU bloc, which has almost doubled its membership in the last few years.

Legal experts have been making slow progress on the EU reform treaty since July, but they have now apparently got a text they can all agree on.

As the negotiations were conducted mostly in French, it will take until the end of the week to translate and make it more widely available on the internet.

The final work focused on Britain's opt-out from the sensitive area of judicial co-operation and the powers granted to the EU's highest court over member states' compliance with EU rules.

Election issue

A Portuguese diplomat said Britain should be satisfied with the outcome, but he insisted there was no guarantee of an agreement at the Lisbon summit. He said it was not the end of the process and it was wise to be cautious.

One reason for caution is Poland, increasingly seen in the EU as an unpredictable partner. With an early election scheduled just two days after the summit, Warsaw is bound to stick to its demands for greater powers to block EU decisions.

Meanwhile, there is intense speculation in Britain that Prime Minister Gordon Brown may also call a snap election, and opposition conservatives have made it clear they will turn a demand for a referendum on the new EU treaty into a key political battleground.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

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[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Title at time of posting on BBC website: “EU lawyers agree on treaty text” .

[jveritas]

The joke of the EU continues. 25 countries with 25 languages, 25 cultures, and 25 different national interests delude themselves that they are one country.

[jveritas]

The joke of the EU continues. 25 countries with 25 languages, 25 cultures, and 25 different national interests delude themselves that they are one country.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

"A country called Europe".

(If you include comments, it's quite long).

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

This link contains both article and comments.

[jveritas]

Keep living in Utopia.

[Joe Boucher]

Europe can’t agree what day it is, whether the sun comes up in the east or even whether or not Islam is vile and evil.
Agree on a constitution? Yeah right. Germany wants control, France wants more control, england smartly wants its soverenity and Italy just wants a great glass of wine.
Poland understandably is wary and the Swiss want to take more booty form wherever.
Constitution they all can agree on? You’ve got to be kidding.

[Atlantic Bridge]

25 countries with 25 languages, 25 cultures, and 25 different national interests delude themselves that they are one country.

The thing is that since the treaty of Rome there is a purposive development to a federal state within Europe.

Why?

Because it makes sense to a certain point. I.e. I live in south western Germany near the Black Forrest. Switzerland is about 50 kilometers, France about 70 kilometers and Austria also about 70 kilometers away. As you probably can imagine someone from Switzerland i.e. is ethnically much closer to me than someone from Berlin. The German Swiss belong to the same Germanic tribe like I do, the "Alemannen". Therefore we pray each day that God gives, that they might invade us someday so that we get rid of the rest of our glorious German nation. I would be the first to confirm the Ruetli-vow (the specific Swiss oath). ;)

The specific German form of socialism ("Sozialdemokratie") allows the east and north German federal states to suck out the successful south German federal states (Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg) completely. In sharp difference to the north and the east we south Germans have only between 4 to 5% unemployment and we earn by far most of the money in this country. Because of political correctness we are ruled by east Germans in the meantime. Angela Merkel might make foreign policy that makes sense, her internal politics are -at least for someone from America- complete socialism. 45 cent of each Euro that is spend in eastern Germany was earned in the west/south of my country. Therefore the west Germans have to feed 16 million freeloaders from the east.

A "Europe of the regions" would give us Germans from Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg complete freedom from the rest of our compatriots. On one hand we would get rid of the current German system of socialism and on the other we could close ranks with those who are really important to us (i.e. the German-Swiss or the French from Alsace-Lorraine). This is a coherence that is often not understood in America or the U.K. i.e.. Conservative Americans think that they have to defend the "sovereignty of free nations" or other BS. The facts are completely different.

Of course unity only makes sense under those who are alike. Therefore the process of further federation may include Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux. Practically all nations from eastern Europe are simply too weak (in economical sense) to join such a federation. Furthermore nations whose people deny this idea like the UK should keep out also. This is a western Europe continental thing. The recent denial of the "constitution" in France and the Netherlands was rather the expression of the refusal of the absorbtion of eastern Europe (with Turkey) into the union than a "no" to a united western Europe. The idea of a well-defined "Europe of the regions" is rather popular among most west European people.

Europe could use the change from the current disaster of different systems and nations to a well organized "Europe of the regions" (a federal state) with a combined foreign policy for many (capitalist) reforms that are overdue since a long time. Furthermore it would make sense to have i.e. one army instead of 6 or seven, to have one federal parliament instead of six or seven, to have one seat in the UNSC, to have one economic policy, one foreign policy, to have nuclear arms, etc. etc. etc.. We western Europeans could gain power and would be able to save bazillions of taxpayers money.

I am well aware that such a "USE" would displace the parameters of American foreign policy. The US ruled Europe during the last 50 years quite successful through a divide et impera (divide and conquer) policy. This would not be possible anymore then. On the other hand it must be in the interest of the US to have a strong partner with clear doctrines instead of a conglomerate of small nations that represent only their very own interests. A bigger European state would not be able to deny its responsibility for global security anymore i.e.. Therefore a united western Europe could be in the well understood own interest of the US.

[jveritas]

As I told the other guy keep living in Utopia.

[Atlantic Bridge]

Wait and see. :)

P.S. Of course I am aware that the realization of a USE will take its time, but I am quite sure that in the end it will happen. There is a slow but constant progress in the development of a united Europe since the beginning 50ties. I.e. could have anyone even think about a French offer to control the “Force de Frappe” (the French nuclear arm) TOGETHER with Germany in the beginning 50ties??!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1897883/posts

[lowbuck]

Hello,

Sitting here in Berlin, but have lived for five years in Munich, you take is “spot on”.

Also, there has been much discussion lately of a lot of young families with skills moving to Switzerland to take advantage of the political and economic model that rewards hard work!

[hinckley buzzard]

Doesn't matter. The people of the EU are going to get a Constitution, even if its delivered by enema.

[wolf78]

Pero, con gran partes de California y Florida hablando castellano, y, más importante, la división en “estados azules” y “estados rojos”, cual es la diferencia entre la UE y los EEUU?

(Just playing the devil’s advocate here ;)

[Atlantic Bridge]

Also, there has been much discussion lately of a lot of young families with skills moving to Switzerland to take advantage of the political and economic model that rewards hard work!

The Swiss have for sure by far the best political and economic system in Europe if not the best in the western world. Cousins of me moved there and they had good reason to do so.

[lowbuck]

Yes, Berlin won out when we changed jobs because this is where my wife’s family lives. Otherwise, we were giving Switzerland a good look as my wife had the offer of an extremely good job in hand and I figured I could find employment.

With that said, we are very happy in Berlin, at least until I see all the deductions on my pay statement!!!

Are you still doing the restoration work you wrote FR about some months ago?