Germany Court Suspends Lisbon Treaty Ratification

The court says that while the Basic Law is constitutional, the accompanyingg law is unconstitutional to the extent that legislative bodies have not been accorded sufficient rights of participation.

The summary relase the decision of the Constitutional Court of Germany reads the following.

"The Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court has decided today that the Act Approving the Treaty of Lisbon (Zustimmungsgesetz zum Vertrag von Lissabon) is compatible with the Basic Law. In contrast, the Act Extending and Strengthening the Rights of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat in European Union Matters (Gesetz über die Ausweitung und Stärkung der Rechte des Bundestages und des Bundesrates in Angelegenheiten der Europäischen Union) infringes Article 38.1 in conjunction with Article 23.1 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz - GG) insofar as the Bundestag and the Bundesrat have not been accorded sufficient rights of participation in European lawmaking procedures and treaty amendment procedures. The Federal Republic of Germany’s instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon may not be deposited as long as the constitutionally required legal elaboration of the parliamentary rights of participation has not entered into force. The decision was reached unanimously as regards the result, by seven votes to one as regards the reasoning (for the facts see German press releases no. 2/2009 of 16 January 2009 and no. 9/2009 of 29 January 2009)"

Just after the announcement of this decision, the coalition partners, the conservatives and social democrats that are in power in Germany have decided to convene the Bundestag for a special session scheduled on August 26.

The Court had received several complaints from German MPs from the conservative wing of the Bavarian CSU and the left-wing party Die Linke, which accused the treaty that it may weaken the German parliament and that it may be contrary to the principle of democracy.

This decision should have a limited impact on the timing of the process of ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. The Irish have to speak again in a referendum on the text and consultation is not expected before October. In the Czech Republic and Poland, it must still be signed by President Vaclav Klaus and Lech Kaczynski.

You can read the entire judgment of the Germany Constitutional Court on the suspension of the process of Lisbon Treaty ratification in Germany here.

The Monde.fr with AFP and Reuters