The Lisbon Treaty won't be ratified, just implemented
More obstacles in the path of the European Constitution Lisbon Treaty. Now it turns out that the parliament of the Åland Islands, an autonomous, Swedish-speaking archipelago under Finnish jurisdiction, is threatening to veto the text unless it secures a number of concessions, including separate representation in EU institutions. A protocol attached to Finland's accession treaty allows the Åland Islands to regulate some of their affairs directly with Brussels. Without boring you, an Åland veto would make Finnish ratification - scheduled for this Autumn - much harder, if not impossible. Not that I imagine the Constitution will meet its end in the icy waters of the Gulf of Bothnia. Swedish-speaking Finns, like most national minorities, tend to be relatively pro-Brussels. One of them, for example, is the amiable and Euro-fanatic Alex Stubb, now Finland's Foreign Minister, who will be familiar to readers of this blog as the politician with the unintentionally funniest website in Europe. Still, it tells you something when even the Åland Islands are prepared to kick up a fuss. The fact is that almost no one outside Brussels would give a straw for the Lisbon Treaty. Certainly, no country would vote for it. As the shrewd Bruno Waterfield reports, the Danish Government is quietly ditching its promise of a referendum on ending the opt-outs that impede the constitution's adoption in that country. No, it is clear that voters will never again be trusted with a referendum - anywhere, ever. The contents of the treaty will simply be enacted by a combination of parliamentary ratification, executive fiat and judicial activism - as I have Eeyorishly predicted all along. European integration has long since lost its legitimacy. Eventually, the peoples will shake off the system - to borrow Orwell's simile - like a horse shaking off flies. But it the system may endure a while yet. There's a deal of ruin in a Union. http://tinyurl.com/5lfcb6
More obstacles in the path of the European Constitution Lisbon Treaty. Now it turns out that the parliament of the Åland Islands, an autonomous, Swedish-speaking archipelago under Finnish jurisdiction, is threatening to veto the text unless it secures a number of concessions, including separate representation in EU institutions. A protocol attached to Finland's accession treaty allows the Åland Islands to regulate some of their affairs directly with Brussels. Without boring you, an Åland veto would make Finnish ratification - scheduled for this Autumn - much harder, if not impossible. Not that I imagine the Constitution will meet its end in the icy waters of the Gulf of Bothnia. Swedish-speaking Finns, like most national minorities, tend to be relatively pro-Brussels. One of them, for example, is the amiable and Euro-fanatic Alex Stubb, now Finland's Foreign Minister, who will be familiar to readers of this blog as the politician with the unintentionally funniest website in Europe. Still, it tells you something when even the Åland Islands are prepared to kick up a fuss. The fact is that almost no one outside Brussels would give a straw for the Lisbon Treaty. Certainly, no country would vote for it. As the shrewd Bruno Waterfield reports, the Danish Government is quietly ditching its promise of a referendum on ending the opt-outs that impede the constitution's adoption in that country. No, it is clear that voters will never again be trusted with a referendum - anywhere, ever. The contents of the treaty will simply be enacted by a combination of parliamentary ratification, executive fiat and judicial activism - as I have Eeyorishly predicted all along. European integration has long since lost its legitimacy. Eventually, the peoples will shake off the system - to borrow Orwell's simile - like a horse shaking off flies. But it the system may endure a while yet. There's a deal of ruin in a Union. http://tinyurl.com/5lfcb6