EU Crisis Takes Shape

July 2nd, 2008 By: Michael van der Galien | Tags:
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Weeks after the Irish voted against the new European Union treaty, the presidents of Poland and Germany have refused to sign it as well. The main point from the Poles; if the Irish voted against it and if Ireland will, therefore, not sign it, it’s pointless for us to sign the treaty nonetheless.

The German president refuses to sign it for a different reason:

German President Horst Köhler’s office announced on Monday he would not sign the ratification documents until the Federal Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, rules on legal challenges to the treaty, which aims to streamline the bloc’s institutions following the 2004 accession of central and eastern European countries.

Köhler’s role is largely ceremonial but he still has the power to halt legislation. The court had asked him not to sign the treaty, approved by both houses of the German parliament earlier this year, pending its hearing of two challenges brought by the Left Party and by a politician from Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union party. There is no date set for a ruling by the court, but it may not come until next year.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski followed suit on Tuesday by saying he will not sign the treaty either for the time being because of Ireland’s rejection.

Kaczynski told Polish newspaper Dziennik that it was “pointless” to sign the treaty even though Poland’s parliament had ratified it in April.

In short; the treaty isn’t going anywhere. This means, for the umptiest time, that Europe will not be able to change what has to be changed.

However, what truly has to change is the way Europe is run. There’s no democracy, not enough of it anyway, and little to no accountability. Voters feel that Europe is a bit like a negative view on God; high up there, all powerful, omnipresent yet not present at the same time… and there’s not much you can do about it.

Until Europe addresses these concerns, nothing will change.

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