Germany ratifies EU Lisbon Treaty

According to EUbusiness 23 September 2009 Germany ratifies the EU’s Lisbon reform treaty: Federal President Horst Köhler has signed the ratification instrument, as attributed to a spokesman. (I found no confirmation on the President’s web site.)


If the information is correct, the purists may still argue that the ratification instrument has to deposited in Rome, for the ratification process to be complete, but does anyone doubt the ability of the German diplomatic service in this respect?

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Three to go


After Germany, only three ratifications remain uncompleted:

• Ireland, where the Lisbon II referendum takes place on 2 October 2009, promising an Irish Commissioner and offering assurances on sensitive issues
• Poland, where President Lech Kaczynski has withheld his signature despite parliamentary approval of the Lisbon Treaty
• The Czech Republic, where a few defeated henchmen of President Vaclav Klaus do their utmost to paralyse the European Union by a new legal challenge

In addition, at sub-state level the Legal Committee of the Åland Parliament has still to produce a report on the application of the Lisbon Treaty in this autonomous region of Finland.



Ralf Grahn