FRANCE:The European Parliament yesterday approved the decision to hold an intergovernmental conference on treaty reform by voting for a report that also expresses concern at a number of shortcomings in the agreed draft treaty.
MEPs voted by 526 votes to 128, with 26 abstentions, in favour a report by German socialist MEP Jo Leinen that outlines the parliament's opinion on the reform treaty.
The vote was preceded by a debate in which many MEPs lamented the number of exemptions given to member states and the loss of parts of the failed constitution, which they said could weaken the cohesion and identity of the EU.
The intergovernmental conference will now take place on July 23rd and it is hoped an agreement on the treaty can be reached at the European Council meeting in Lisbon in October.
Speaking during the debate, Mr Leinen criticised the "array of derogations" given to member states, especially Britain's decision to opt out of the charter of fundamental rights. "The member states need to make every effort to avoid the European Union having a first-class and a second-class system of rights protection."
British Liberal Democrat Andrew Duff said the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (Alde) would "fight to prevent a political spillover from the UK protocol on the charter". He said he hoped that the "growing number of opt-outs and minimalist footnotes" do not "contaminate the integrity" of EU law.
Speaking on behalf of the Socialist PSE group, British MEP Richard Corbett said he regretted the loss of constitutional designation, the foreign ministry title and a statement of the supremacy of EU law. However, he said the crucial point was these changes from the failed constitution "will make it easier to ratify" the new treaty.
Bernard Wojciechowski of the Independence/Democracy Group said the fact the mandate safeguards the substance of a constitution that two countries rejected showed it was a "sloppy attempt at federalising the union at any price". British MEP Jim Allister said it "conspicuously avoids support for popular ratification of the recast constitution".
Earlier, Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates said the priorities of the Portuguese presidency were treaty reform, an agenda for modernising European economies and societies, and the strengthening of Europe's role.
He said the October deadline was "perfectly feasible" because of the "clear and precise mandate" they had got. Referring to the possibility some countries might try to change the agreement at the intergovernmental conference, he said "our mandate is not to change the mandate, but to turn the mandate into a treaty".