On Jun 20, 9:51=A0am, james.mcgre...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> On Jun 20, 9:15=A0am, Whileyouslept <whileyousl...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>
> > UK HIGH COURT JUDGES DROP BOMBSHELL ON BROWN: 'British High Court
> > Judges Rebuke Government Over Lisbon Treaty' - 'High Court Asks
> > Government To Delay Ratification Of EU Treaty' - 'EU Treaty Not
> > Ratified Without Court Ruling: Britain' -'Gordon Brown: High Court
> > Judge's Calls For EU Lisbon Treaty Ratification Delay Makes No
> > Difference'
>
> > =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
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EU Treaty In danger, Faced With Czech, British Obstacles
BRUSSELS (AFP) =97 The European Union's long-awaited reform treaty
appeared in danger Friday, threatened by Czech doubts and a sudden
legal hurdle in Britain just a week after it was rejected outright in
Ireland.
EU leaders, in a two-hour summit in Brussels which they hoped would
chart a course away from the looming political storm, could only agree
to give Ireland at least until October to come up with recommendations
on the way ahead.
They could not even send a strong signal that the remaining nations
would forge ahead with ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, in an effort to
quarantine Ireland and apply added pressure for a new referendum
there.
"I am not going to force MPs to back Lisbon (treaty) and I would not
bet 100 crowns (four euros) on a Czech yes," Czech Prime Minister
Mirek Topolanek told re****ters.
Prague's parliamentary ratification was suspended in late April as it
was going through the lower chamber, after the Senate demanded a
constitutional court ruling on whether the treaty conforms with the
Czech constitution.
Beyond this obstacle, the Czech Republic's eurosceptic President
Vaclav Klaus had already insisted that the Irish vote had killed off
the do***ent, meant to help the EU operate correctly as it grows.
In the end, the leaders "agreed to Ireland's suggestion to come back
to this issue at its meeting of 15 October, 2008 in order to consider
the way forward."
They noted that, although 19 EU member states have ratified, "more
time was needed to analyse the situation."
In a final communique void of forceful language, the only reference to
whether the seven countries besides Ireland that have not endorsed the
treaty should forge ahead simply said: "The ratification process
continues in the other countries."
As the summit drew to a close, a British court challenge to the
validity of the treaty threw a new spanner into the EU works,
particularly after Prime Minister Gordon Brown conceded that the text
could not be valid without it.
"Ratification will not take place of course until we have had the
judgement from the judge," he told journalists on the sidelines of the
summit.
It came after a judge at London's High Court called on the British
government to delay ratification until he ruled on a legal bid to
force a referendum.
But Brown played down the problem, saying that Britain's ratification
process remained on track despite the court challenge.
The EU has been plagued for most of this decade by a failure to update
its institutional rule book as more countries have come on board.
Were the treaty to be stopped in its tracks -- the way the draft
constitution was by French and Dutch voters three years ago -- the EU
would be left to limp along using the Nice Treaty signed by 15 leaders
in 2001.
Despite the expectations of EU leaders, embattled Irish Prime Minister
Brian Cowen conceded that he had not been able to give them any hopes
to cling onto.
"I made it clear that however frustrating for them, it is still simply
too early to know how we are going to move forward from this point,"
he said, after the summit had ended.
"I have been honest and I've said that I don't have an answer at this
time."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he will travel to Ireland
next month in a concerted effort to try to plot a strategy before an
EU summit in October under France's chairman****p.
But he acknowledged that one more blow could be fatal.
"Ireland is a problem, but if we have a second or third problem then
it's really going to get difficult," said the French leader, whose
nation takes over the rotating EU presidency on July 1.
Sarkozy said the leaders, over two days, had agreed to respect two
principles as they moved forward, in an effort to overcome the
uncertainty that the Irish vote has sparked.
"We must have a solution agreed by 27" nations, he said.
Any "renegotiation of the treaty can be ruled out, we are not going to
have another simplified treaty", he said, referring to the now dead
draft constitution that led to the simplified do***ent dubbed the
Lisbon Treaty.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jldkh4FpVfkHfPbluwNSJVD0ME4w
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