German constitutional court to examine Lisbon treaty

[orieleye]

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany's constitutional court is preparing for an unusually long hearing on the EU's Lisbon treaty in a process that will help determine the fate of the document across the European Union.

Over two days next month (10-11 February) the court's judges will discuss whether the treaty breaches Germany's constitution.


The time the court has allotted for the debate is exceptionally long. According to Focus magazine, it only happens once or twice in a decade that the court gives more than one day for a hearing.

The court is considering a complaint brought by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler, who has argued that the treaty infringes on the rights given to German citizens in their country's constitution by allowing a foreign court - the European Court of Justice - to decide upon such issues.

He also argues that the treaty undermines the power of Germany's own parliament, the Bundestag.

Dietrich Murswiek, the lawyer handling the case for Mr Gauweiler, also remarked on the hearing's length: "This shows that the constitutional court is taking the issue very seriously. A hearing of longer than a day happens very rarely."

Although Germany's parliament has ratified the treaty and the president has signed it off, the final step to complete the process – formally handing the papers over in Rome – will remain stalled until the court has decided.

But the fate of the treaty, which has to be ratified in all 27 member states to come into force, remains in the balance in three additional countries.

The Czech Republic, Poland and Ireland also have yet to complete ratification. The Czech parliament is due to debate the charter at the beginning of February. If it passes parliament, it then faces another hurdle in the shape of the country's eurosceptic president, Vaclav Klaus, who must also give his approval.

Ireland is having another go at ratifying the treaty after it was rejected by Irish citizens last June. The second referendum will take place in the autumn. The result will directly influence Poland's treaty situation.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said he will only give the nod to the treaty if Ireland's referendum produces a Yes vote.

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[Aptrgangr]

Over two days next month (10-11 February) the court's judges will discuss whether the treaty breaches Germany's constitution.

It clearly does.
But they mean the Grundgesetz (basic law) here, which is a provisional piece of paper that has to be replaced by a constitution according to §146. Germans deciding freely over an own constitution, this is not going to happen...

The court is considering a complaint brought by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler, who has argued that the treaty infringes on the rights given to German citizens in their country's constitution by allowing a foreign court - the European Court of Justice - to decide upon such issues.

Peter Gauweiler already has been labelled - and now it comes: "drumroll" as a Nazi, Fascist, Right-wing extremist...
His career in parliament will end soon enough.

I am not sure what will happen, the EU constitution was not ratified by the FRG since president Köhler [a banker, for one time he did something right] did not sign it as it breached the basic law, those having sent him to office (Yes, the German people do never elect the head of state, the president, but parties and lobby groups, a closed circle) were not happy with his loyality towards the basic law, so this time he signed the Lisbon treaty.

[orieleye]

German court handed new complaint on EU treaty

27.01.2009

Germany's constitutional court has been handed a second complaint over the EU's Lisbon Treaty with the potential to delay the country's final ratification of the document for several months.

The new legal action, running to over 200 pages, is concerned with economic as well as political issues, which the complainants say are not addressed by the Lisbon Treaty.

The Lisbon Treaty was signed by EU leaders in late 2007 (Photo: Portuguese EU Presidency)


They argue that a prognosis on European integration given by the country's constitutional court in a 1993 judgement on the Maastricht Treaty - which paved the way to the euro - has turned out to be false.

Instead, EU integration has been characterised by "continuous breaches of the stability pact, a presumptuous over-stepping of power by the European Commission, unaccountable leadership and dissolution of the separation of powers," say the authors in a statement on Monday(26 January), according to German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

They say that the constitutional court cannot approve the Lisbon treaty because it "strengthens the current practice of dismembering the division of powers and mixing of competences."

The complaint is being brought by Markus Kerber, a commercial lawyer, Dieter Spethmann, a former chief executive of Thyssen, former MEP Franz Ludwig Graf Stauffenberg and economist Joachim Starbatty.

Germany's highest court is already dealing with a separate complaint on the Lisbon treaty by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler. It is due to have a two-day hearing on his complaint - which says the treaty undermines freedoms guaranteed in the German constitution - on 10 and 11 February.

But the latest complainants have refused to take part in that hearing, reports Handelsblatt newspaper, wanting to have their argumentation proofed separately by the court.

The court now has to decide whether it will accept to proof their case. If it does, it is likely to take several months to come to a decision.

This could delay the German government's timetable for the treaty, which it would like in place across the bloc by the end of the year.

To go into force, the charter still needs to be accepted by Irish citizens, due to have their say in a second referendum later this year and be ratified in the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Poland's president Lech Kaczynski has said he will only formally approve the treaty if Ireland says Yes in autumn.

For its part, Germany has to hand the papers of the Lisbon treaty over in Rome for complete ratification to have taken place. The president, Horst Koehler, is waiting for the court judgement before making the move.

Source

[Monolith]

This entire matter is a charade. The 'treaty' is supposed to be dead. I mean, how many times will the Irish have to repeat the referendum until they say 'yes', and why do they have to repeat it in the first place? The agenda of the eurotrash masters is clearly visible even to the most braindead zeropeans.

[orieleye]

Several of the eight judges in charge of examining whether the EU's Lisbon Treaty is compatible with the German constitution have expressed scepticism about the constitutional effects of further EU integration.

According to reports in the German media, the debate during the crucial two-day hearing starting on Tuesday (10 Februrary) on the treaty centred on criminal law and the extent to which it should be the preserve of member states rather than the EU.




The judges questioned whether the EU should be allowed to increase its powers in criminal law.

Judge Herbert Landau said new EU powers in criminal justice affected "core issues" of German legislative authority.

"These are issues affecting the shared values of a people," he said.

Judge Udo Di Fabio, who prepared the procedure and will deliver the judgement on the treaty, asked whether the transferral of powers to the EU really means more freedom for EU citizens.

"Is the idea of going ever more in this direction not a threat to freedom?" he asked, according to FT Deutschland.

Judge Rudolf Mellinghoff asked whether the treaty was already "in an extensive way" being applied when its comes to the area of criminal sanctions in environment issues – the European Commission may sanction companies for polluting the environment.

In all, four of the eight judges questioned the Lisbon Treaty.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted that the judges were united on one issue: that the treaty is not a work of high literature.

Less-than-clear passages from the treaty were read out aloud, guaranteeing a laugh, noted the paper.

Referendum

On Wednesday, the court is to examine article 146 of Germany's constitution, which says that a referendum may be called if the constitutional order in the country is changed to the detriment of Germany's current constitution – the Grundgesetz or Basic Law.

The court could therefore ask for a referendum, concludes the Suedeutsche Zeitung.

The hearing is being watched keenly across Europe as all member states need to ratify the EU treaty before it can go into force.

The German government, a strong supporter of the document, sent two of its senior ministers to defend it during the hearing, which is examining whether the treaty is anti-democratic by allowing the powers of national parliaments to be circumvented.

The case was brought before the court by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler and several deputies from the left-wing Die Linke party.

Ireland, the Czech Republic and Poland have also yet to ratify or complete ratification of the treaty.

Link

(Ireland has already rejected the treaty)