Europe

[Louis VI the Fat]

good article on the implications of the german constitutional ruling on lisbon, and how it may affect supra-national governance in future:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/...636706,00.html

A good article indeed on a splendid court decision.

Needless to say, I was very happy that the German Constitutional Court ruled 'Lisbon' compatible with the German Constitution*. It was a tough hurdle to take. Even better was that the court also insisted on improving the democratic deficit. Bless the Germans and their obsession with democracy.

Lisbon plus the demand that the national parliament demands and accepts its European responsibility sounds like a winning ticket. Perhaps, the German ruling will be a stimulus for pro-EU Irishmen with doubts about the democratic workings of the EU. Much of which are now being adressed in Germany, worthy of study by other nations.

The Lisbon Treaty verdict is a massive appeal -- no, order -- to the people's representatives to finally engage with European issues. "A lot of work and little recognition," is how Bundestag member Gunther Krichbaum once described his work on the Bundestag's European Union committee, which he chairs. Is that all that Europe means for German democracy?

Card-carrying Europeans seem unanimous in the view that national legitimization of European decisions is impossible in the long run. A democracy consisting of 27 national parliaments would be too noisy, too slow and too nationalistic, they argue. But the Constitutional Court has neither ruled that political decisions by German government members who are on councils of ministers in Brussels need to be subject to approval by the Bundestag, nor ruled out further steps toward greater European integration. It is only trying to prevent the Bundestag from refusing to take responsibility for all these things.

* The German constitution, from 1949, states that Germany wants to be an equal member of a unified Europe which works towards world peace.