THE GOVERNMENT faces opposition to its demand for legally binding guarantees on the Lisbon Treaty because some EU states fear it will reopen the treaty debate in their own countries.
EU states have also raised concerns about the implications of the Irish guarantee on the right to life, education and family and a separate declaration on workers’ rights.
A meeting of EU ambassadors to discuss the text of the guarantees was scheduled for today but it was cancelled last night because of problems that emerged at bilateral meetings between Irish officials and their EU counterparts. Britain, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden have all raised concerns about the text, which is due to be agreed at an EU leaders’ summit next week.
“What kind of concrete form that legally binding document could have is something that is subject to discussion. Some parts of the concrete texts are also still under discussion,” said Czech Europe minister Stefan Fule, who is chairing the delicate negotiations on behalf of the rotating EU presidency.
He said EU states had agreed to give guarantees on the specific areas of family, right to life, religion, neutrality and taxation. But he said there was also a consensus that there is a “red line that cannot be crossed”, which is that member states do not want to have to ratify the treaty again.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen made clear at last December’s EU summit he wanted the guarantees to be enshrined in the EU treaties at the earliest possible opportunity to provide a cast iron assurance to Irish voters. When the guarantees are written into the EU treaties they become primary law, which gives them extra validity in the eyes of the European Court of Justice.
Mr Cowen’s request was seemingly granted when French president Nicolas Sarkozy told the media an Irish protocol with the guarantees could be ratified by all states with the next EU accession treaty, probably Croatia.
But it is understood Britain, in particular, is very nervous about reopening a national debate on Lisbon by agreeing to ratify an Irish protocol through the House of Commons. The Conservatives made the Lisbon Treaty a key issue in their European election campaign, which saw Labour beaten into third place by the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party.
“There are huge sensitivities around Lisbon for the British government,” said one EU source.
Britain is not alone in fearing that agreeing to ratify a protocol through national parliaments could cause complications. Several states are worried that agreeing to the Irish demand could provoke the Eurosceptic Czech president Vaclav Klaus to refuse to sign the Lisbon Treaty to prevent its ratification even if the Irish public votes yes in a second referendum.
One alternative that member states may offer the Government is a legal decision on the guarantees issued by the European Council. This would have legal standing but would enshrine the guarantees in the EU treaties.
Several EU states such as Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden are also concerned about the implications of the Irish guarantee on ethical issues. Warsaw secured its own opt-out from the charter of fundamental rights on ethical issues. More liberal EU states such as Netherlands and Sweden want to ensure that the Irish guarantee on ethical issues does not override existing EU rights that Ireland has signed up to such as the freedom to work or travel abroad in EU states.
“The guarantees should not give primacy to the Irish Constitution over existing EU rules that Ireland has already signed up to,” said one diplomat.
Several states are also concerned about a declaration the Government is seeking on workers’ rights, a hugely sensitive issue at EU level. EU states have already agreed to Ireland’s demand that every member state should retain a commissioner. But a final agreement on the legal guarantees will have to be found at next week’s summit to enable a referendum to be held in the autumn.