Bruno Waterfield ends his column in The Telegraph, The EU elections that we can only lose (4 June 2009), by calling for a truly constitutional debate about the European Union: “The EU debate needs … to become constitutional in the true sense of the word. It needs to be about the nature of politics, who participates in politics, and to ask for whom political structures are organised. It needs to become an argument about what politics should be, in opposition to how it is - I don't see that in this European election.”
Our preferred solutions may point in different directions, but Waterfield is right about the need for a discussion about the fundamentals of European integration. What purposes should the European Union serve, if any? If the EU is necessary, how should it be organised in a democratic manner? Are referendums the way forward?
In my view, the European Union is an imperfect system, and the Treaty of Lisbon is the result of timid consensus. These European elections are not going to bring about sudden radical change, but during the coming five years the European Parliament can at least keep the torch alive. Among the main institutions, the EP is the most respected by and the best hope for EU citizens.
Sensible voting can help.
Ralf Grahn
Showing posts with label The Telegraph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Telegraph. Show all posts
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Monday, 21 January 2008
Product plugging by Christopher Booker
In The Telegraph, Christopher Booker made a lot of noise about contempt for Parliament and the like. According to Booker, the Government asks MPs to approve the EU treaty even before they have a proper chance to examine what it is they are voting on.
Booker then goes on to plug the consolidated Lisbon Treaty being prepared by the end of the week by a private firm: “a 331-page text of the treaty with invaluable analysis” (cost £27.50).
I am not going into the interesting questions of journalistic ethics concerning product placement or downright marketing, but I sincerely hope that others will.
***
The Council’s refusal to publish consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, “putting all those amendments in context, in such a way that their significance can be understood” as Booker says, is a serious drawback for democratic debate in Europe.
Therefore, the readers of this blog have been kept aware of the different consolidated language versions that have been published, as far as I have been able to find out.
English speakers are, relatively speaking, in the enviable position to have three different consolidations of the Reform Treaty available, for free. Perhaps there is cause to mention the consolidated Lisbon Treaties in English again:
IIEA
Peadar รณ Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read
Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty
Go to http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch
Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled a version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where likenesses and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted
Go to http://www.statewatch.org
Markus Walther
Markus Walther, who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, has posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).
Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf
Other resources
Other resources on the Lisbon Treaty have been mentioned here frequently, with the latest posting dated yesterday, on some of the UK Parliamentary documents.
***
If Booker wants to scandalise the British government and market valuable books, they are his choices.
But the information already exists for those who are interested in the facts.
Ralf Grahn
Source:
Christopher Booker’s Notebook: MPs required to ratify Lisbon treaty without reading it; The Telegraph 19/01/2008;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3Bjsessionid%3D2V4OJ542O2YSDQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/20/nbooker120.xml
Booker then goes on to plug the consolidated Lisbon Treaty being prepared by the end of the week by a private firm: “a 331-page text of the treaty with invaluable analysis” (cost £27.50).
I am not going into the interesting questions of journalistic ethics concerning product placement or downright marketing, but I sincerely hope that others will.
***
The Council’s refusal to publish consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, “putting all those amendments in context, in such a way that their significance can be understood” as Booker says, is a serious drawback for democratic debate in Europe.
Therefore, the readers of this blog have been kept aware of the different consolidated language versions that have been published, as far as I have been able to find out.
English speakers are, relatively speaking, in the enviable position to have three different consolidations of the Reform Treaty available, for free. Perhaps there is cause to mention the consolidated Lisbon Treaties in English again:
IIEA
Peadar รณ Broin at the Institute of International and European Affairs (Dublin, Ireland) has produced a complete consolidation of the amended treaties, including the protocols and annexes, in a format easy to read
Treaty on European Union
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Annexes to the EU and FEU Treaties
Protocols to the EU and FEU Treaties and, where appropriate, to the EAEC Treaty
Go to http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch
Professor Steve Peers has painstakingly compiled a version consisting of several files for the Statewatch Observatory on the EU Constitution and the Reform Treaty, where likenesses and differences between the different reform stages are highlighted
Go to http://www.statewatch.org
Markus Walther
Markus Walther, who produced and published a German consolidated version of the EU Treaty of Lisbon on his web site, has posted an English readable consolidated version as well (a preliminary document without protocols and charter).
Go to http://www.mwalther.net/europa/eulaw-lisbon-mwalther.pdf
Other resources
Other resources on the Lisbon Treaty have been mentioned here frequently, with the latest posting dated yesterday, on some of the UK Parliamentary documents.
***
If Booker wants to scandalise the British government and market valuable books, they are his choices.
But the information already exists for those who are interested in the facts.
Ralf Grahn
Source:
Christopher Booker’s Notebook: MPs required to ratify Lisbon treaty without reading it; The Telegraph 19/01/2008;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3Bjsessionid%3D2V4OJ542O2YSDQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/20/nbooker120.xml
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