A cut to the chase : Why the Lisbon Treaty should be fully ratified - commentaires

A cut to the chase : Why the Lisbon Treaty should be fully ratified

The German President recently put his signature to Lisbon. Just waiting on the Polish and Czech presidents and the Irish referendum now.

Lisbon should be ratified simply because it does not change the relationship between citizen-Member State-EU, in my opinion, but rather it just aims to make the EU a more effective body. That cannot be a bad thing. The chief criticism of the EU - the one that is most difficult for pro-Europeans to parry - is that it is unwieldly, often ineffective, and does not live up to its professed ambitions. See http://www.right2bet.net for example - a campaign that is pulling no punches in pointing out where the EU is simply failing to ensure freedom of choice for EU citizens.

We desperately need an effective EU that can act so that criticism like this will never again be levelled at its institutions...

A cut to the chase : Why the Lisbon Treaty should be fully ratified

When analysing the Lisbon Treaty, it's important to keep track of the changes that have been introduced after its adoption. These changes were put in place especially to tackle the ratification difficulties, and so can constitute an important selling point for the Treaty. The most significant of these changes derives from the European Council's decision (allowed by unanimity under the Treaty) to keep the Commission as it currently exists. In other words, when the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, there will still be one Commissioner per Member State (this was specifically aimed at pleasing Irish voters). The number of Commissioners will only be changed if the Treaty is revised again, or if the European Council votes by unanimity in that sense. This is bad for the Commission's efficiency and overall strength, but it seemed necessary from a democratic perspective at this stage.