Posts Tagged EU

A taste of what is to come

Posted by Honor Mahony in EU on November 18, 2011

With all this talk of treaty change to further tighten up centralised economic governance in the EU, it is easy to overlook what has already been agreed.

The so-called “six pack” of legislation, now coming into force, profoundly alters the nature of economic governance in the European Union. Even though it has been much discussed – and wrangled over in the European Parliament – it remains fairly abstract for most people. But the rules represent a very real shift of power to the EU level, with increased monitoring of national public finances, economic policies and budgets. (A good explanation of the rules from the man in charge himself can be found here)

Well Ireland has just got  taste of what all this extra surveillance actually looks like. The Irish government woke up to the embarrassing news Thursday that draft budget plans for 2012 and 2013 had been seen by German MPs before their Irish counterparts.

It turns out the European Commission had sent the budget document to all 27 finance ministries.

A spokesperson for the commission apologised, reports the Irish Times, calling it “regrettable” but noted all the same that “this is our mandate.”

Ireland’s budget information must be shared with other EU states as part of the its €85bn EU-IMF bailout deal. Ireland also gets to see similar information from Greece, a fellow bailout country.

The public leak occurred when the German finance ministry, working to a recent ruling of the country’s constitutional court saying that deputies must have more oversight on use of the bailout fund (EFSF), passed the information to members of the parliament’s budget committee. This then came to light. And has caused many red and angry faces in Dublin.

But it is a general indicator of what is to come for all  member states.  Naturally I don’t mean that German MPs will see the national budgets of all countries before national deputies. (Although I assume this particular problem will arise again with other bailout countries too ).

But the European Commission does have this power. EU officials are now entitled to see broad outlines of draft budgets ahead of national chambers.

And next week, the commission is set to make these powers even tighter. President Jose Manuel Barroso has already indicated that, for countries running excessive deficits, he wants the commission to be allowed to make recommendations on draft national budgets before they are voted on by parliaments. In future, Brussels may also ask parliaments to re-examine their budgets in a second reading.

So, the German incident is embarrassing for Dublin certainly. But outside meddling in the national budget is part of Ireland’s and others’ post-eurozone crisis future.

, , ,

13 Comments

Germany’s treaty angst

Posted by Honor Mahony in EU on February 17, 2009

German judges rules

The judges raised profound questions about what statehood means.

With the Irish looking more inclined to vote yes in a second referendum, the biggest threat to the EU’s Lisbon Treaty may yet come from Germany.

A hearing at the country’s constitutional court last week was remarkable for the scepticism the prospect of further EU integration raised among the panel of eight judges examining the treaty.

They were looking into a claim by centre-right MP Peter Gauweiler and a group of leftist deputies that the treaty is anti-democratic, and therefore anti-constitutional, because it undermines the power of the national parliament.

The course of the two-day hearing saw the judges raise profound questions about what statehood means and what powers are essential to the definition of a state. The focus was on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, the area where the Lisbon Treaty makes the greatest integrative steps.

Some of the judges felt that criminal law is an area that defines a state’s relations with its people. One asked whether the continued transferral of power to the common EU level really means more freedom for European Union citizens.

Rather aptly, the first part of the hearing fell on the same day as a ruling from the European Court of Justice, in which it dismissed attempts by Ireland to get the EU’s data retention law repealed on the grounds that it had been made on the wrong legal basis.

The judgement had been keenly awaited in Germany where its own court is examining whether the law – allowing storage of telephone and internet data – for up to two years is anti-constitutional.

Ireland wanted the law to be made under the justice and home affairs pillar – therefore maintaining EU states’ right of veto. But the EU court said the European Commission was entitled to make the propoal because it concerned the good-functioning of the bloc’s internal market.

The well-being of the internal market is guaranteed in the EU treaties. But it is such a catch-all phrase that it concerns, or can be made to concern, just about any policy area and is often used by the court to justify its decisions. This is grist to the mill of those who say that the EU is constantly evolving to take on more powers without properly consulting its citizens. And indeed the ruling featured in the second day of the hearing on the Lisbon Treaty, brought up by Mr Gauweiler’s legal team.

Most importantly,  the hearing gave a much-needed airing to an interesting to debate on evolving relations between member states and Brussels – a discussion that is normally hijacked by the extreme ends of the pro- and anti- EU camps.

Of course, if the court were to strike the treaty down, it would almost certainly be a fatal blow. But there was already speculation in German papers last week that the judges – due to deliver their verdict in May or June – may ask the Bundestag to tack on certain provisos when passing the Lisbon Treaty into law.

, , ,

1 Comment