Lisbon goes Berlin

Seized of the matter by both pro- and anti-European German MPs, the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has approved the Lisbon Treaty, deeming it “compatible” with Germany’s Basic Law (i.e. its constitution). However, the justices have suspended the ratification process, calling for amendments to the accompanying protocol, which in their estimation does not sufficiently guarantee the powers of the German parliament. “It’s a ‘yes, we can’ ruling,” comments the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “Yes, we can build Europe, a strong Europe, but only if we respect the principles of democracy, at the core of which lies the will of the people.” So the German parliament will no longer be a rubber-stamping office for Brussels decisions, exults the daily, for which the ruling does not halt the integration process, but serves as “fertilizer for democracy”.

The Tageszeitung, on the other hand, fears the judgment might set an untoward precedent. For this left-wing daily, the ruling from on high “fits right in with the prevailing nationalistic mood in other Member States. The real danger lies in the possibility that the constitutional courts in the other 26 countries will follow Karlsruhe’s example and proclaim themselves guardians-in-chief of the EU. Too much sand in the engine could stop even a tough landrover like the EU.”

From the Polish and Spanish perspectives, this is bad news for Europe. “How will Angela Merkel be able to put pressure on the Irish and exhort Vaclav Klaus and Lech Kaczynski to sign the treaty now?” wonders political scientist Cornelius Ochmann in the Gazeta Wyborcza. “The Germans have decided their nation is more important than Brussels,” opines Polska, for its part, for which the decision spells the demise of the “idea of a new federal superpower”: “All that is left [of the European Constitution] is a user’s manual for European technocrats. No wonder the treaty has been rejected so many times. And now its destiny has been held up by jurists in the biggest country in Europe.”

“Germany has shown it is no longer the driving force behind Europe, but an ordinary country gritting its teeth and bearing new stages in the Community project,” resumes ABC. The Madrid daily also fears the decision might “lend wings to Eurosceptics in the countries that have yet to ratify the Lisbon Treaty: Poland, the Czech Republic and Ireland. In Great Britain, David Cameron must be rubbing his hands with glee: the conservative leader is hell bent on holding a referendum on the treaty if he gets elected.”

“Germany’s Constitutional Court has reaffirmed the centrality of its national parliament,” observes the Corriere della Sera in Milan: “In matters like defence, the army, fiscal policy, labour law, the family and criminal law, the Bundestag and Bundesrat will have to be centre-stage in the European decision-making process, even after ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the government will have to consult parliament on matters discussed in the European Council. Germany’s orientation is clear: Europe is not a federal union, but an alliance between nations.”