The Treaty of Lisbon: how the EU operates

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James Higham on "nourishing obscurity" has outdone himself with a great series of posts on the workings of the EU after the Lisbon Treaty has come into force. Here it is:

- Part I - "The EU and Sovereignty"
- Part II - "Specific ways the EU operates"
- Part III - "Stance of parties, pundits and people on the EU"
- Addendum: "Learned Opinion From Both Sides"

Feb. 24, 2010
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In force tomorrow (congrats) -

TEAM: "A black day for Democracy in Europe"

On December 1st 2009 the Lisbon Treaty enters into force. With the Lisbon Treaty the EU gets a President and a Minister of foreign Affairs (Articles 15 and 18). In more than 50 areas powers are transferred from the member states to Brussels, and the Treaty states directly that EU-laws have precedence over national laws (Declaration 17).

The member states bind themselves to increase their military capacity permanently (Article 42,3), and the EU is recognized as a Legal Personality (Article 47). On these and countless other areas the Lisbon Treaty is a huge step towards the United States of Europe, and undermines national sovereignty and the democratically elected national Parliaments of the individual member states. (...) >>>

Nov. 30, 2009
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Team, the European alliance of EU critical movements: "Danish pending legal action against the Lisbon Treaty could save the day"

(...) Poland, The Czech Republic and Germany have not yet finished their ratification. This is mainly due to law suits, documenting the profound consequences that accession to the Treaty will have for the member countries.

We, a group of citizens who have brought an action against the Danish Government, charging it with breaking the Danish Constitution, take the liberty to draw the attention of the Irish People to these pending law suits and to the serious political effects of the Lisbon Treaty that they demonstrate. The Treaty confers almost unlimited powers on the EU, thus undermining the Constitutions and the living Democracy in the member countries. It threatens the possibility of the peoples of Europe to have a decisive influence on their own societies and living conditions. (...) >>>
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Prague Daily Monitor: "LN: Klaus testing EU's courage by offering Lisbon compromise"

Czech President Vaclav Klaus does not risk so much by offering a compromise that would enable his signing the Lisbon treaty to complete its ratification, but he, on the contrary, exposes the EU to a test of courage, Bohumil Dolezal writes in Lidove noviny (LN) Tuesday.

Klaus demands an opt-out for Czechs from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, a part of the treaty, to secure the inviolability of the post-war Benes decrees on the basis of which ethnic Germans were deported from then Czechoslovakia after World War Two and their property was confiscated.

Political analyst Dolezal reminds that Klaus is persistent and stubborn in his opposition to the EU's deepening integration, and he is fighting against it in the name of the Czech Republic's sovereignty. Now Klaus wants an addendum to "Lisbon" stating that the Czech law is superior to the EU law. (...) >>>

Oct 21, 2009
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Irish Times: "Voters concentrated on economic issues - Cowen"

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said one of the main reasons for the passing of the Lisbon Treaty was that voters had focused on “economic issues” and made a decision based on how “we promote and defend our own interests”. (...) >>>

Oct. 4, 2009
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WE THE PEOPLE: "WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK CAMPAIGN!"

We will be performing a national distribution of specially printed flyers designed as an old Irish punt note. (see image)
On the reverse is a condensed explanation of what the global elite have in store for us under the Lisbon treaty and under the New World Order. Its the perfect introduction to the truth movement and would inspire anyone to research the subject and see clearly what the Lisbon treaty is really all about.
Designed as a postcard so can be easily mailed to people. If you would like to distribute some yourself in your own area please contact us. Alternatively you may download the flyer and print them yourself. (....) >>>
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The Truth Coalition: "The Sovereign Independent is now Online & On The Streets"

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the Sovereign Independent is now available for download online here Sovereign Independent and in print in your area really soon. We are frantically shipping them all over the country as we speak. If you would like to volunteer to help distribute papers please email info@sovereignindependent.com with your name, mobile number and areas you can cover. (...) >>>

Aug. 29, 2009
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The National Platform EU Research and Info Centre: "Summary of 13 things the Lisbon Treaty would do"

The Lisbon Treaty …

1. Would be a power-grab by the Big States for control of the EU by basing EU law-making post-Lisbon primarily on population size. (...) >>>

July 11, 2009
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On the day Angela declares victory for Lisbon, in effect ending the sovereignty of her country, Germany's highest court has ruled to halt the ratification process until the German parliament changes a domestic law to strengthen the role of the country's legislative bodies in implementing European Union laws. Irrelevant, but noteworthy is popular opinion ...

EUobserver: "Irish commissioner says EU Treaty would be rejected in most countries"

Ireland's EU commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, has said that the Lisbon Treaty would be rejected by most member states if put to a referendum. With just a few months to go before his own country's second referendum on the document, the plain-speaking former finance minister said 95 percent of the 27 member states would have said "no" to the new institutional rules if it had been put to a vote. Heads of state are far more realistic than Brussels 'fonctionnaires'The commissioner, in charge of the internal market, reckons all leaders know this and it is only officials working in the EU institutions who have unrealistic expectations about the popularity of the treaty, designed to streamline how the EU functions and removing the unanimity requirement for decision-making in most policy areas. "When Irish people rejected the Lisbon Treaty a year ago, the initial reaction ranged from shock to horror to temper to vexation. That would be the view of a lot of the people who live in the Brussels beltway," he told the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland on Friday (26 June), reports the Irish Times. (...) >>>

June 30, 2009
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Time: "Vaclav Klaus: The Man with the E.U.'s Fate in His Hands"

Will he sign it or will he spike it? That's the question lingering in Europe's capitals as Czech President Vaclav Klaus holds the key to the European Union's future.
The Czech Republic is one of four E.U. countries - out of 27 - that are yet to finish ratifying a treaty that would allow the enlarged bloc to reform its institutions. The goal of the Lisbon Treaty, which the E.U. has been working on since its failed attempt to pass a constitution in 2005, is to boost the E.U.'s influence on the world stage by making it more effective. (Read "Czech Government's Collapse Hits the E.U.")

The Czech government first submitted the treaty for ratification in parliament in January 2008, but its opponents, encouraged by euroskeptic Klaus, managed to put the painstakingly negotiated accord on the back burner for over a year. Finally, the Czech Senate was the last parliamentary chamber in the E.U. to approve the treaty on May 6, passing the hot potato onto the president, whose signature is required for ratification. Klaus, 67, opposes the treaty as a boon to the E.U.'s bigger members and a threat to his country's sovereignty, and he has since kept Europe on tenterhooks as it waits to see whether or not he will sign. (...) >>>

May 21, 2009
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FT: "Czechs clear way for Lisbon treaty"

The upper house of the Czech parliament on Wednesday approved the European Union’s Lisbon treaty by a convincing majority, increasing the chances that long-awaited institutional reforms in the 27-nation bloc will come into effect on January 1, 2010. The Czech senate’s 54-20 vote was comfortably above the margin required for approval and came as a relief to EU leaders, who have invested the best part of 10 years in trying to redesign the EU’s decision-making procedures in a way that satisfies everyone. (...)

The treaty still needs the signature of Vaclav Klaus, the Czech head of state, who is a fierce critic of Lisbon (...) he would have to sign the document sooner rather than later. The Czech vote will put similar pressure on Lech Kaczynski, Poland’s president, who has delayed signing the treaty even though the Polish parliament has passed it.

The chief obstacle to the treaty now lies five months ahead in the form of an Irish referendum, expected in October, that must be held if Lisbon is to secure the necessary approval from all EU member-states. Irish voters rejected the treaty in a referendum in June 2008. (...) >>>

May 6th, 2009
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Cranmer: "Lisbon Treaty introduces EU-wide death penalty"

(...) the Treaty of Lisbon reintroduces the death penalty in Europe (...) ‘very important’ (just a bit), ‘in light of the fact that Italy was trying to abandon the death penalty through the United Nations, forever. And this is not in the treaty, but in a footnote, because with the European Union reform treaty, we accept also the European Union Charter, which says that there is no death penalty, and then it has a footnote, which says, "except in the case of war, riots, upheaval"—then the death penalty is possible. Schachtschneider points to the fact that this is an outrage, because they put it in a footnote of a footnote, and you have to read it, like really like a super-expert to find out!’ (...) >>>

Mar 5, 2009
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Prague Daily Monitor: "Czech lower house approves Lisbon Treaty"

The EU's reform treaty cleared the lower house of the Czech parliament Wednesday as the first step on its often delayed road to ratification by the nation that now holds the EU presidency. The Chamber of Deputies granted its consent with the ratification after a vote of 125 for and 61 against, deputy PM Alexandr Vondra said. The next steps call for the Senate to okay the treaty, and for President Václav Klaus, an outspoken eurosceptic, to put his signature to it. >>>

Feb 19, 2009
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WSJ: "Dublin and the Democratic Deficit - How the Irish might save European civilization, again"

Ireland's decision to hold a second referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty, a variation on Europe's failed constitution, hardly comes as a surprise, but it does raise some interesting questions. What would happen after another "no" vote? A third referendum? Or might two nos have the finality of one yes in the European Union's calculus?
This time around European leaders are offering sweeteners to Irish voters. These include guarantees that Ireland won't be forced to give up its military neutrality or abortion ban -- though it's an open question whether such guarantees would be legally binding. They're also offering an assurance that all member states will continue to be represented by a Commissioner in Brussels.
This last pledge reveals the folly of staging revotes on failed treaties, if making a mockery of democracy weren't already enough. Proponents say the Lisbon Treaty is crucial to reforming the creaking institutions of a union that has nearly doubled in size since the last EU pact took effect in 2003. Yet one of the worthiest of the proposed reforms, reducing the number of European Commissioners to a more manageable size, has now been deemed expendable. Meanwhile, Brussels wants to press forward with controversial adjustments such as eliminating national vetoes in a number of policy areas. (...) >>>

Dec 15, 2008
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Ceske Noviny: "Irish minister condemns parallels drawn by Czech president- press"

Czech President Vaclav Klaus's recent utterances on a visit to Ireland continue to stir passions in the country, with Dick Roche, European Affairs Minister, lashing out at Klaus again on Saturday, newspaper Irish Independent writes on its website today. Roche said the parallel Klaus drew between the anti-EU activists and former Soviet-era anti-communist dissidents was "stomach-churning." During Klaus's visit in Ireland, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin called the parallel drawing "ridiculous, shallow and bogus." Klaus in reaction called Martin's position "hypocrisy" he could not accept.

(...) Klaus recalled that his predecessor in the Czech presidential post, Vaclav Havel, former anti-communist dissident, liked to meet foreign dissidents. "So I will now meet an EU dissident and I regard myself as such as well," said Klaus, a Eurosceptic and Lisbon treaty critic. Roche described Klaus attempts to draw comparisons between the EU and a Communist regime as "particularly odd" given his own history as a "minor apparatchik" during the Communist era in the former Czechoslovakia. (...) >>>
16th Nov 2008
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Libertas: "Libertas accepts invitation to meet Sarkozy"

Libertas Chairman Declan Ganley has this afternoon said he has accepted an invitation to meet French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Sarkozy will be hosting a meeting of members of the Yes and No sides from the Lisbon Treaty campaign on Monday."Along with many of my fellow Irish & European citizens, I was offended to hear Sarkozy say that Ireland would have to vote again. Sarkozy himself has denied the people of France a vote on the Lisbon Treaty saying 'if there was a referendum in France, there would be no treaty'. For Sarkozy to tell Ireland to vote again is a shocking indictment of the anti-democratic attitude of some European leaders. As a European, and in particular as current President of the European Council, Sarkozy has a democratic responsibility to respect the will of the Irish people. The Lisbon Treaty is dead, the same formula has now been rejected by the Dutch and by Sarkozy's own people and now by the people of Ireland. (...) On Monday when we meet, I will be asking that he accept that the Irish people have rejected the Lisbon Treaty. Libertas will not participate in any debate on the Lisbon treaty on Monday - that debate ended when the people of Ireland voted no" (...) >>>

Updated: 18th July 2008
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Related:

- "Building the State of Europe"
- "The Treaty of Lisbon"


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