European DiaryTDs will get their first chance to scrutinise the EU reform treaty today when the Government's decision to opt out of key justice provisions is debated in the Dáil.
The treaty got a mention in the chamber last week following Tuesday's decision by the Cabinet to follow Britain by reserving the right not to take part in EU police and judicial co-operation efforts. But in truth opposition TDs have had very few opportunities to exercise democratic oversight in relation to a treaty which is likely to shape Ireland's relationship with Europe for years to come.
Labour TD Michael D Higgins summed up the opposition's frustration when he told RTÉ on Saturday that it was "quite outrageous that there had been no opportunity to discuss the issue in the Dáil".
But public accountability hasn't been high on the agenda of EU leaders when it comes to finding a way out of the mess created by the French and Dutch electorates' rejection of the EU constitution. After years of pledging to bring Europe closer to the public, EU leaders agreed in June to form an InterGovernmental Conference (IGC) that would enable diplomats to write a treaty behind closed doors out of the public gaze.
The resulting document of more than 200 pages, which is expected to be agreed at a summit later this week in Lisbon, is a baffling array of protocols, declarations and legalese that amends three existing EU treaties.
Due to its complexity every member state bar Ireland is likely to ratify the text through parliament rather than risk a referendum. The Irish people will get the chance to vote on the treaty, once again relegating TDs to be casual observers rather than real actors on big European issues.
Indeed, the Oireachtas has failed to play a significant scrutiny role in relation to the secret talks held to decide the EU reform treaty. The European affairs committee and the related EU scrutiny committee have not sat for more than six months due to the general election. Apart from several parliamentary questions laid down in the Dáil by opposition TDs, the Government has rarely had to explain its negotiating strategy.
"There just isn't adequate scrutiny of what ministers agree at EU meetings," says Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, former chairman of the Dáil's EU scrutiny committee. "There is a serious lack of resources. Just two expert staff and four members deal with the avalanche of material from Brussels. There is also only limited power to summon Ministers to follow up on council meetings . . . This erodes credibility when it comes to putting EU questions before the public in referendum."
Member states such as Denmark and the Netherlands have powerful European affairs committees that must be consulted before a minister can take any decision at a council of ministers meeting. In Denmark the committee holds meetings every Friday and agrees a mandate with ministers for all EU decisions that must be taken in Brussels the following week. It can force the Government to change its negotiating position - a recent example was a debate over a proposed EU software patents directive - if it disagrees with government policy. The committee's website also publishes 95 per cent of the texts discussed by ministers in Brussels in the interests of transparency.
In contrast, the Department of Foreign Affairs website has a lengthy article on the now defunct EU constitution and a single link to the EU reform treaty. This hyperlink directs users to the text of the draft treaty, which even constitutional lawyers struggle to decipher.
In the absence of parliamentary scrutiny in the Dáil, the media has been left to scrutinise the Government's policy on the reform treaty. At the June EU leaders' summit, newspapers pinpointed a last-minute reservation placed on the Charter of Fundamental Rights - a citizens' rights charter - by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. This reservation was not articulated to the media at a press conference at the summit and was mentioned only as a footnote in the mandate for the IGC. It has now been withdrawn following vocal complaints by trade unions. The media has also shone a welcome spotlight on Ireland's opt-out from EU justice and home affairs decisions, although the debate really only got going after the Cabinet had already decided on the best way forward for the country.
At the weekend Green Party Senator Deirdre de Búrca welcomed the extension of co-decision procedure in the reform treaty, which gives the European Parliament an equal say with the Council of Ministers in the lawmaking process. This will undoubtedly boost the democratic accountability of the EU. But there are only 13 Irish MEPs (from 2009 there will only be 12) and some EU legislative areas such as foreign relations will remain outside the scope of their powers.
Clearly TDs and the Government have a role to play to address what "no" campaigners in the upcoming referendum on the reform treaty will call a democratic deficit at the heart of Europe. A good start would be to boost the powers and resources of the two EU committees in the Oireachtas.