Posted on 06/30/2009 8:18:06 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Germany's highest court set a new obstacle for the Lisbon Treaty when it ordered parliament to pass a new law before the controversial document can be ratified.
In a ruling that could delay the ratification of the treaty for months, judges said it was broadly compatible with German law but they refused to grant it approval for immediate ratification.
They said a new law was required to guarantee the rights of the German parliament in the European Union's decision-making process because MPs had "not been accorded sufficient rights of participation in European lawmaking procedures and treaty amendment procedures".
The ruling presented Sweden, which takes over the rotating EU presidency on Wednesday, with a fresh challenge. Its government must already oversee a second referendum on the treaty expected in Ireland in the autumn, while the presidents of the Czech Republic and Poland have yet to sign off on ratification.
The latest ruling means the ratification process in Germany is on hold and may buy more time for opponents of the treaty, potentially undermining efforts to have it introduced by Jan 1 next year.
The presiding judge in the federal constitutional court, Andreas Vosskuhle, said: "The basic law (German law) says Yes to the Treaty but demands at national level a strengthening of the parliament's involvement."
The judgment echoes a fierce debate in Britain between those who describe proposed EU constitutional change as a "tidying up exercise" and the treaty's opponents who see the text as part of a federalist agenda that threatens national sovereignty.
The case was brought by 50 German MPs who argued that approval of the treaty would erode democracy and breach German law.
The German parliament is expected to vote on the legislation demanded by the court, including a guarantee that its parliament will have to vote on
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Interesting development...
Yeah, so many countries running away from Socialism...except one.
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