How should EU fundamental rights and justice crack nuts?

When should the legislator use a sledgehammer to crack a nut (in more senses than one)?

When we advance from the existential importance of fundamental rights to a few lines about the colloquium, I have to admit to a lingering doubt about how intrusive criminal law should become.

I hope that bright thinkers contribute to the cross-border discussion in Europe, since similar problems confront the European and the national level.

Věra Jourová

- It is high time that member states fully implemented EU law to combat racism and xenophobia. I intend to take decisive actions to monitor this implementation and will focus on three points. First of all, member states must firmly and immediately investigate and prosecute racist hatred and violence. Second, I find it disgraceful that Holocaust denial is a criminal offence in only 13 member states. Last but not least, member states must decisively address hate speech, said the EU justice commissioner Věra Jourová in her closing remarks at the Commission's first colloquium on fundamental rights.

Hopefully her openness about the Commission's aims serves the purpose of a wider and improved discussion about the merits of justice policy and criminal law to advance societal aims. Commissioner Jourová promised a number of other actions to counter antisemitism and islamophobia, as well, some more and some less controversial.

Fundamental rights colloquium

Through the web page of the European Commission's first annual fundamental rights colloquium 1-2 October 2015 you can access material, including the thematic discussion notes to steer the discussions. The notes offer you a fairly detailed view of the issues at the colloquium, but worth continued discussion in Europe more widely:

Stepping up action to prevent and combat antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes (Session I.a)

The role of local authorities, education and grass-root projects (Session I.b)

Tackling hate speech in a connected world (Session II.a)

Fostering equality legislation and promoting non-discrimination policies (Session II.b)

Ergo 

As you see, there are quite a number of related but separate issues demanding individual treatment.

You can follow, dig for material or participate under the Twitter hashtag #NoPlace4Hate

Ralf Grahn 

EUCO: Fiscal compact TSCG

The fiscal compact, officially the Treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the economic and monetary union (TSCG), was signed yesterday by 25 of the 27 governments of the EU member states. Only the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom chose to exclude themselves at this stage.

The TSCG text is available in the 22 authentic treaty languages (Bulgarian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish).


A common concern

The recital reminds us of the obligation of all member states of the European Union to regard their economic policies as a matter of common concern. This obligation was introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, which was signed twenty years ago.

Recently, the failure of the states to adhere to and to enforce this obligation has turned it into a grave concern, common to all EU citizens (and beyond).

The TSCG still builds on the principle of national economic policies, which need to be coordinated intergovernmentally, although it purports to shrink the straitjacket.


Treaty law and enhanced cooperation

The aim of the signatories is to incorporate the substance of the TSCG into the legal framework
of the European Union within five years (Article 16). According to Article 10, enhanced cooperation is seen as an option.

This intergovernmental treaty, close to but outside the institutional framework of the European Union, went through six different drafts, which were not officially made public. However, the draft texts were leaked to selected media. Even if selective leaks violate the principle of equality between EU citizens, openness was served.


Ratification

According to Article 14(2) and (3), the TSCG needs to be ratified by at least twelve euro area member states to enter into force among them.

The meaning is twofold. The final number of ratifying states may be less than 25. For constitutional reasons Ireland is going to call yet another national referendum. Other countries may stumble when they try to transpose the changes into national law, although aid from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will become conditional upon the ratification of the TSCG.

On the other hand, a few dropouts won't spoil the party for the masochists.


Euro Summit

The provisions on governance (Euro Summit) apply to all parties from the original entry into force. See Article 14(4). The TSCG legalises the recent practice of euro summits, which have eclipsed the Eurogroup, which meets informally but is mentioned in an EU Treaty protocol.


Political alignment

For the non-euro countries, the TSCG is mainly a symbol of political alignment, since they undertake no concrete obligations, if they do not expressly undertake obligations. See Article 14(5). However, according to Article 12(3) they are granted limited participation rights in the Euro Summit.

The TSCG as a whole applies to the eurozone countries, although only a part of the provisions are real additions to the euro area acquis.

The signing of the TSCG took care of the ”austerity” part at the European Council 1-2 March 2012, so the main part of the EUCO meeting could – for a change – be devoted to economic growth, competitiveness and jobs.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law

P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?

EU and eurozone transparency: DIY

Transparency moves in a mysterious way in the European Union. As far as I have been able to ascertain, the president of the European Council and of the Euro Summits, Herman Van Rompuy, has not published his interim report on improving economic union.

Perhaps 502 or 332 million people are wrong to believe that the matter merits public interest in advance of the European Council 8 to 9 December 2011.

Thus, EU citizens are left with recourse to documents leaked, which offends the basic principles of equal treatment and openness.

It also mean a waste of time and effort. Beggars can't be choosers, so let us record our somewhat disparate findings.

In the blog post Réforme de traités, mode d'emploi the journalist and euroblogger Jean Quatremer offered a discrete link to Van Rompuy's letter in French, on the Coulisses de Bruxelles blog.

Le Figaro offers an English version of Van Rompuy's report.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and president Nicolas Sarkozy (Merkozy) promised to finalise their proposals to Van Rompuy and then to publish their joint letter. The Elysee website offers the document in French.

The Bundeskanzlerin website offers the ”Merkozy” letter in German.

I found no English version in either place, so I was happy to note that the quality blogger @placeduluxemb had found the Merkozy letter in English via widely followed @zerohedge (although I did not see the source mentioned).



Ralf Grahn

Citizens first: EU Council ignores the Treaty

In his blog post The schizophrenic Council, Ronny Patz saw the real face of the Council of the European Union as that of an EU institution

…that may have started to understand how 21st century PR works but that has not yet understood how 21st century democracy should look like.

Kudos to Reijo Kemppinen for presenting the Council view about restricted and privileged access to information.

However, Kemppinen's arguments miss the fundamental principles of equality of and equal attention to the citizens of the EU (Article 9 TEU), as well as the guiding values of a union 'in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen' (Article 1 TEU).

This is more than a bureaucratic slip.

The guiding principles are relevant to both the apples of access to documents and the oranges of running communication work of the EU Council (as well as the other EU institutions).

The fruits belong to the citizens of the European Union.



Ralf Grahn

European elections: A snapshot of gender equality and democratic choice

The European Parliament has not yet published the 2009 gender distribution of the elected MEPs. After the 2004 European elections 31 per cent of MEPs were women.

The election result in Finland will shift the balance to a degree: eight women (about 61%) and five men were elected out of a total of 13 MEPs.

If there is anything remarkable about the result, it is the fact that it is based on the individual choices of voters. Each citizen votes for an individual candidate, on a party list. The lists function as teams, being awarded proportional representation according to their total number of votes. Within the list the order of the candidates is determined by their individual votes.

This means that the outcome is not based on quotas, or closed lists manipulated in a politically correct manner. They reflect the choices of the individual electors.

Besides, the electoral system allows the voter to assess all the qualities of a candidate, of which gender is but one.

In Finland, with a population of 5.3 million, the whole country was one electoral district, so each voter was able to select among all the available candidates (241 representing 13 parties).

Elections are democratic, but some systems are more democratic than others.


Ralf Grahn

European Union: Equal pay for equal work

Eliminating inequalities and promoting equality between men and women is one of the general aims of the European Community.

Equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value applies in the context of working life.

We present the relevant treaty provisions on gender equality and point to further reading containing practical information and access to secondary European Community (European Union) legislation on equal opportunities and equal treatment.

***

Gender equality

Article 3(2) TEC Equality

Article 3(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) lists the activities of the Community.

Article 3(2) TEC is a horizontal clause with the aim to eliminate inequalities and to promote equality between men and women (in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/45):

2. In all the activities referred to in this Article, the Community shall aim to eliminate
inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women.


Article 13 TEC Non-discrimination

Article 13 TEC sets out the general European Community powers to combat discrimination and to adopt incentive measures (OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/48):

Article 13 TEC

1. Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Treaty and within the limits of the powers conferred by it upon the Community, the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, when the Council adopts Community incentive measures, excluding any harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the Member States, to support action taken by the Member States in order to contribute to the achievement of the objectives referred to in paragraph 1, it shall act in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251.

***


Article 141 TEC

Article 141 (ex Article 119) of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) sets out the principle of gender equality in working life in some detail.

Equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value is laid down as the norm. Although the principle is addressed to the member states, the ECJ has declared that it has direct effect, meaning that it binds parties to collective agreements as well as individual employers and imployees.

Pay is defined to include any consideration, and the criteria for calculating pay need to be objective.

Legislative acts concerning equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women can be adopted according to the co-decision procedure.

So called positive discrimination is allowed in order to compensate for disadvantages.

The current Article 141 TEC, as published in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/110:

Article 141 TEC

1. Each Member State shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for equal work or work of equal value is applied.

2. For the purpose of this article, ‘pay’ means the ordinary basic or minimum wage or salary and any other consideration, whether in cash or in kind, which the worker receives directly or indirectly, in respect of his employment, from his employer.

Equal pay without discrimination based on sex means:

(a) that pay for the same work at piece rates shall be calculated on the basis of the same unit of measurement;

(b) that pay for work at time rates shall be the same for the same job.

3. The Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, and after consulting the Economic and Social Committee, shall adopt measures to ensure the application of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation, including the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.

4. With a view to ensuring full equality in practice between men and women in working life, the principle of equal treatment shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or adopting measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for the underrepresented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in professional careers.


***


Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)

Article 2, point 119 of the original Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) amends Article 140 TEC and point 120 concerns Article 143 TEC, so there are no specific amendments to Article 141 TEC (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/82).

The unwieldy procedure referred to in Article 251 is replaced by the ordinary legislative procedure, in accordance with the horizontal amendment mentioned in Article 2, point 2(c) of the original Lisbon Treaty (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/42).

***

Renumbering ToL

The Table of equivalences of the original Treaty of Lisbon tells us that the social policy title was to be renumbered Title X and that the Article 141 TFEU (ToL) was to be renumbered Article 157 TFEU in the consolidated versions of the amending treaties (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/216).


***


Consolidated Lisbon Treaty

After the horizontal amendment Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in the consolidated TFEU published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJ 9.5.2008 C 115/117–118, appears as follows:

(TITLE X
SOCIAL POLICY)

Article 157 TFEU
(ex Article 141 TEC)

1. Each Member State shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for equal work or work of equal value is applied.

2. For the purpose of this Article, ‘pay’ means the ordinary basic or minimum wage or salary and any other consideration, whether in cash or in kind, which the worker receives directly or indirectly, in respect of his employment, from his employer.

Equal pay without discrimination based on sex means:

(a) that pay for the same work at piece rates shall be calculated on the basis of the same unit of measurement;

(b) that pay for work at time rates shall be the same for the same job.

3. The European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure, and after consulting the Economic and Social Committee, shall adopt measures to ensure the application of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation, including the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.

4. With a view to ensuring full equality in practice between men and women in working life, the principle of equal treatment shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or adopting measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for the underrepresented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in professional careers.


***

Protocol No 33

Rolled over and annexed to the Lisbon Treaty is Protocol (No 33) concerning Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (OJ 9.5.2008 C 115/319):

PROTOCOL (No 33)

CONCERNING ARTICLE 157 OF THE TREATY ON THE
FUNCTIONING OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

THE HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,

HAVE AGREED upon the following provision, which shall be annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union:

For the purposes of Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, benefits under occupational social security schemes shall not be considered as remuneration if and in so far as they are attributable to periods of employment prior to 17 May 1990, except in the case of workers or those claiming under them who have before that date initiated legal proceedings or introduced an equivalent claim under the applicable national law.

***

Charter of Fundamental Rights

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union has been politically binding on the EU institutions since it was proclaimed in Nice in December 2000.

The Charter was an integrated part of the Constitutional Treaty (as Part II), but it did not become legally binding since the ratification processes of the Constitution petered out after the negative referendums in France and the Netherlands.

The Treaty of Lisbon does not incorporate the text of the Charter, but the European Union ‘recognises the rights, freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 7 December 2000, as adapted at Strasbourg, on 12 December 2007, which shall have the same legal value as the Treaties’ (Article 6 TEU).

For the purposes of this blog post, we recall the general non-discrimination Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which includes the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sex (OJ 14.12.2007 C 303/7):


Article 21
Non-discrimination

1. Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited.

2. Within the scope of application of the Treaties and without prejudice to any of their specific provisions, any discrimination on grounds of nationality shall be prohibited.


The equality between men and women is evoked by Article 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights:

Article 23
Equality between women and men

Equality between women and men must be ensured in all areas, including employment, work and pay.

The principle of equality shall not prevent the maintenance or adoption of measures providing for specific advantages in favour of the under-represented sex.

***

Charter explanations

The Explanations relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights were originally drawn up during the European Convention. They have been technically adjusted but not materially updated since then. The latest version concerning Article 21 was published in OJ 14.12.2007 C 303/24:

Explanation on Article 21 — Non-discrimination

Paragraph 1 draws on Article 13 of the EC Treaty, now replaced by Article 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Article 14 of the ECHR and Article 11 of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine as regards genetic heritage. In so far as this corresponds to Article 14 of the ECHR, it applies in compliance with it.

There is no contradiction or incompatibility between paragraph 1 and Article 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which has a different scope and purpose: Article 19 confers power on the Union to adopt legislative acts, including harmonisation of the Member States' laws and regulations, to combat certain forms of discrimination, listed exhaustively in that Article. Such legislation may cover action of Member State authorities (as well as relations between private individuals) in any area within the limits of the Union's powers. In contrast, the provision in Article 21(1) does not create any power to enact anti-discrimination laws in these areas of Member State or private action, nor does it lay down a sweeping ban of discrimination in such wide-ranging areas. Instead, it only addresses discriminations by the institutions and bodies of the Union themselves, when exercising powers conferred under the Treaties, and by Member States only when they are implementing Union law. Paragraph 1 therefore does not alter the extent of powers granted under Article 19 nor the interpretation given to that Article.

Paragraph 2 corresponds to the first paragraph of Article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and must be applied in compliance with that Article.


More specifically in the context of Article 157 TFEU, the explanation concerning Charter Article 23 facilitates understanding and guides interpretation in the following way:

Explanation on Article 23 — Equality between women and men

The first paragraph has been based on Articles 2 and 3(2) of the EC Treaty, now replaced by Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which impose the objective of promoting equality between men and women on the Union, and on Article 157(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It draws on Article 20 of the revised European Social Charter of 3 May 1996 and on point 16 of the Community Charter on the rights of workers.

It is also based on Article 157(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 2(4) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions.

The second paragraph takes over in shorter form Article 157(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which provides that the principle of equal treatment does not prevent the maintenance or adoption of measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for the under-represented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in professional careers. In accordance with Article 52(2), the present paragraph does not amend Article 157(4).

***


Equal opportunities

Citizens


In a series of European General Guides addressed to EU citizens, the European Commission offers a brochure called Equal rights and opportunities for men and women in the European Union (last update 2005; 12 pages):

http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/nav/fi/citizens/services/eu-guide/opportunities/opportunities_en.pdf

Commission activities

The Commission’s DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities web page offers links to information about i.a. Living an working abroad, Tackling discrimination, Equal opportunities for all, Rights at work and Employment:

http://ec.europa.eu/social/home.jsp?langId=en

There are a number of useful links, covering most aspects of Gender equality, starting from page:

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/gender_equality/index_en.html


Legal

For the legally minded gender equality legislation opens up with a General Overview:

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/gender_equality/legislation/index_en.html

This is a gateway to the following pages: Equal treatment in the EC Treaty, Legal acts on equal treatment (secondary legislation), Case law of the European Court of Justice, Bulletin on Legal Issues in Equality, and Reports.

***

Community agencies

Community agencies relevant to sex discrimination and gender equality are at least:


The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), in Bilbao, Spain:

http://europa.eu/agencies/community_agencies/osha/index_en.htm


The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), in Dublin, Ireland:

http://europa.eu/agencies/community_agencies/eurofound/index_en.htm



Ralf Grahn

EU leaders left work undone

Although representative democracy and parliamentary ratification of international treaties are the norm, not an aberration, the members of the European Council have paid too little attention to openness, transparency and equality before and after the signing of the Reform Treaty.

The present structures of the European Union left the leaders with little choice but to negotiate initially on an intergovernmental basis to break the institutional deadlock. Let us say that necessity dictated the choices until the agreement on the IGC 2007 Mandate. But after that, how did our leaders explain their reasons and argue their case for institutional reform?

In my opinion, the leaders of the EU member states were somewhat hasty in wanting to leave the seven year period (since Nice) of institutional wrangling behind them, without enough discussion with the citizens at the national or the EU level about our common challenges or the contents of the Lisbon Treaty.

Our future security and prosperity demand joint action, the pooling resources in a European context. The European Union, as a means to our ends, is with us every day. Communicating Europe requires consistent effort, not a few token appearances a year.

Our leaders’ refusal to publish consolidated versions of the Lisbon Treaty in every official language of the Union, has only worsened the situation, giving free rein to ‘hallucinatory’ interpretations of the proposed amendments.

You don’t have to look very hard in the blogosphere to see staggering examples of disinformation. Then, look at the quality and the quantity of factual counter-information. The efforts of most of our governments seem derisory in comparison. Lacking communication is a failure of leadership.

Readable, consolidated Treaties as well as assessments and commentaries are needed, among other things, because I believe that at least some citizens are enlightened enough to want to base their opinions on facts and reason, given the chance.

***

In the longer term, the national leaders have to cross their Rubicon. If our main challenges have moved ‘upstairs’, being global or transborder in character, democracy has to follow. In the end, only a European Parliament with full powers can erase the democratic deficit, which the Lisbon Treaty alleviates in some respects while aggravating it in other fields.

***

Personally, I am grateful for information on consolidations and literature on the Treaty of Lisbon, in order to share it with my fellow EU citizens.


Ralf Grahn


P.S. We European citizens do not need nitpicking detail. We need the same kind of effective protection by our Union that I quoted yesterday concerning another, highly successful Union. The main purposes of the United States of America and the US Constitution were succinctly put by Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist, number XXIII:

“The necessity of a Constitution, at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the preservation of the Union is the point at the examination of which we are now arrived.

The principal purposes to be answered by the union are these – the common defense of the members; the preservation of the public peace, as well against internal convulsions as external attacks; the regulation of commerce with other nations and between the States; the superintendence of our intercourse, political and commercial, with foreign countries.”

Consolidated Treaty of Lisbon

Consolidated versions of the EU Treaty of Lisbon are in constant demand. This I have seen daily from the visitors on my blog. These searches come from every corner of Europe, as well as from North America and Asia.

The discussion on Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström’s blog showed that:

“Ralf - We also get a large number of requests from citizens via our Europe Direct service but I’m afraid it’s not for the Commission to produce a consolidated text of the Treaty, it is for the Council.”

“It’s easy enough to find versions of the Treaty on the web, Ralf has references in his blog. They also exist in Danish and Hungarian to my knowledge.”

***

I have been trying to find consolidated versions of the Reform Treaty, and posted my findings on different occasions, but you may have to wade through a number of postings to find them. For your convenience, I am going to make a fresh posting here, collecting the versions I have found:

Danish

Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/

English

Institute of European Affairs (Ireland) http://www.iiea.com
Statewatch (professor Steve Peers) http://www.statewatch.org

French

Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf

German

Markus Walther: Das Primärrecht der Europäischen Union; Endfassung, Stand 18. Dezember 2007; (updated after signing)
http://www.mwalther.net/union.html

Spanish

Real Instituto Elcano (updated after signing)
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org

Swedish

Sieps – Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studier: Ladda ned Lissabonfördraget - Konsoliderad version av EU:s fördrag (pdf); http://www.sieps.se

***

These versions, in Danish, English, French, German, Spanish and Swedish, are the ones I have been able to find.

This makes a total of six languages out of the 23 official languages of the European Union. The Council’s refusal to publish consolidated versions is not only contrary to openness and transparency; EU citizens are not given equal access to readable new Treaties.

I know that Hungary was the first member state to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon, but does anyone have more exact information on the Hungarian consolidated Treaty mentioned by the Administrator on Commissioner Wallström’s blog?

In addition, the Finnish government promised belated consolidations (presumably in Finnish and Swedish) during this spring.

If no other consolidations are found or produced (by actors outside the EU institutions), the rest of the EU citizens have to wait for reader-friendly, consolidated Treaties until the ratification processes are over and the Treaty of Lisbon has entered into force.

***

Dear reader,

If you have additional information, please share it. In addition to consolidated versions, my wish concerns new books on the Lisbon Treaty.


Ralf Grahn


See:

Margot Wallström’s blog: http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/wallstrom/

EU Lisbon Treaty: Danish consolidated version

A comment on the DJ Nozem blog helped me find a consolidated version in Danish of the EU Treaty of Lisbon. It has been compiled by the EU Information Office of the Danish Parliament. The first part contains the Treaties and the second part the protocols and declarations.

According to the information given about the consolidation, these are nearly final versions, updated to include the modifications brought about by the European Council on 19 October 2007.

We now have Danish, English, French, German, Spanish and Swedish consolidated versions (that I know of). Only 17 language versions to go before equal treatment has been attained.

Additional information is welcome.


Ralf Grahn


Source:

Folketingets EU-Oplysning: Sammenskrevet udgave af udkastet til Lissabon-traktaten og det gaeldande traktatunderlag; Bind 1 Traktater, Bind 2 Protokoller og erklaeringer;
http://www.eu-oplysningen.dk/emner/reformtraktat/reform/sammenskrevet/

EU Treaty of Lisbon: equality and citizenship

The Laeken declaration (2001) expressed the ambition to bring the European institutions closer to the citizens of the Union. The Union needed to become more democratic, more transparent and more efficient. It also had to resolve three basic challenges: how to bring citizens, primarily the young, closer to the European design and the European institutions, how to organise politics and the European political area in an enlarged Union and how to develop the Union into a stabilising factor and model in the new, multipolar world.

The Laeken declaration led to the Convention on the future of Europe, which drafted the Constitutional Treaty, approved by the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2004) with modifications and signed by all member state governments on 29 October 2004.

Equality and citizenship are two of the cornerstones of the relationship between the Europeans and the European Union.

The Treaty of Maastricht (1992) established the citizenship of the European Union.


Equality

The existing Article 12 TEC prohibits discrimination on the grounds of nationality: Within the scope of application of this Treaty, and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein, any discrimination on grounds of nationality shall be prohibited.

Article 13(1) TEC offers the legal basis for “appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation”.

The Lisbon Treaty broadens the scope of these prohibitions on discrimination by adding positive obligations to observe equality and equal treatment in all Union action.

In the draft Constitution, the Convention proposed a new Article I-44, which became the basis for the wording of the Constitutional Treaty. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 16.12.2004, C 310), Title VI , The democratic life of the Union, Article I-45, The principle of democratic equality: In all its activities, the Union shall observe the principle of equality of its citizens, who shall receive equal attention from its institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.

This sentence was taken over by the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007) and inserted into the new article 8 TEU.


Citizenship

More than half a century since the beginning of European integration, we are still in the middle of a process of transforming economic communities into a Union of people, with full rights for its citizens.

The so called Spinelli project of the European Parliament (1984), the draft Treaty establishing the European Union, would have established the EU and introduced a citizenship of the Union. These reforms had to wait until 1992, when the European leaders were ready to introduce them in the Treaty on European Union (Treaty of Maastricht).

Article 17(1) of the present Treaty on establishing the European Community (TEC): Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall complement and not replace national citizenship.

There seem to be people out there, horrified by the prospect of becoming citizens and acquiring fundamental rights in the European Union. Let it therefore be said:

In the new Article 8 TEU there is no need to establish the citizenship of the European Union, because it exists since the Treaty of Maastricht, which entered into force in November 1993.

Then to the wording:

“Every person” becomes “every national” in the amending Lisbon Treaty, but the meaning of the second sentence is the same as in Article 17(1) TEC.

The third sentence alters the wording slightly. Citizenship of the Union shall “complement” national citizenship becomes shall be “additional to” in the new Article 8 TEU, without altering the meaning.

In the draft Constitutional Treaty the corresponding clause was Article I-8(1). In the Constitutional Treaty the wording of Article I-10(1) was already the same as the second and third sentences of Article 8 TEU in the Lisbon Treaty.


***

My consolidated version: The Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007, C 306/1) amending the Treaty on European Union (latest consolidation OJ 29.12.2006, C 321 E), new Title II, Provisions on democratic principles, with new Article 8:

Article 8

In all its activities, the Union shall observe the principle of the equality of its citizens, who shall receive equal attention from its institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. Every national of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to national citizenship and shall not replace it.


***

My next Lisbon Treaty instalment is going to look at the democratic principles of the European Union.


Ralf Grahn

IGC 2007 like the Holy Alliance

The intergovernmental conference 2007 (IGC), which brokered the deal on the Treaty of Lisbon, is in some respects like a re-incarnation of the Holy Alliance, the compact between European sovereigns in 1815, well above the heads of their citizens.

Sometimes in mid October, if I remember correctly, I started looking and asking for readable, consolidated versions of the Reform Treaty, later to become the Treaty of Lisbon.

When I received an answer from a Finnish government source that the European Council had decided not to publish consolidations of the amending treaty, I could hardly believe my eyes. It just could not be true in our enlightened times, AD2007, I thought.

I pestered Finnish and Swedish authorities and EU institutions and received mostly vague and dilatory answers. Then I got a reply from the institutions of the European Union stating that consolidated versions of the amending treaty would be forthcoming only when the ratification processes were over and the treaty had entered into force.

This really got me going. How could the European Council and the Council, responsible for the intergovernmental conference, invent such a counter-productive ploy? How could the European Commission representing the general interest and the European Parliament representing the citizens acquiesce in this conspiracy of silence? Why did the main European think-tanks remain passive?

***

Everything in the European Union emanates from the treaties. No legislation and no action is allowed without a legal basis. The amending treaty was, this autumn, the single most important document of the European Union. If the whole communication effort of the EU had to be restricted to one matter, the new treaty had to be it, I thought.

Therefore, I started looking at the present and the coming treaties, the practices agreed by the institutions and the policy declarations of the Finnish and Swedish governments in order to evaluate the principles we have been taught and their application in practice.

What I found was a clash between words and deeds. Openness, transparency, accountability, equality, decisions taken near the citizens and hopeful blabber about re-engaging with the citizens, all lost their meaning when confronted with the maliciously imposed silence.

I can imagine few more effective means to self-tarnish the image of the member state governments and the EU institutions than to stonewall the publication of readable treaties.

Were it not for the complicity of the other EU institutions, this would be a damning picture of intergovernmentalism at work. Where was this counter-productive strategy invented? By diplomats less than totally committed to the light of day and public scrutiny? By their political masters, well versed in double-speak?

***

Principles aside, there are practical reasons for consolidated treaties well ahead of their entry into force. Actually, the EU institutions and national governments need handy tools, and probably have them. There are teachers and students, who need accessible materials. There are researchers, journalists, NGOs and businesses as well as regional and municipal officials. There are politicians at every level.

There are the citizens of the European Union. No matter if they are for or against the new institutional arrangements, or undecided, they have a right to user-friendly information. The opinions may differ, but the facts must be shared.

Since there are 23 official languages of the European Union, and the existing treaties as well as the new ones have been drafted jointly, the only sensible thing would be for the consolidated versions to be produced and published centrally, by the Council. Only this would guarantee equal treatment for (most) EU citizens.

***

Since the EU has failed miserably, one line of work has been to look for national or single language versions of the amending treaties. Before yesterday I had found ‘national’ consolidations in English, French, Spanish and Swedish.

Yesterday Nanne on the DJ Nozem blog (link in the column on the left) reported that a German student has compiled a consolidated version in German. With about 90 million Germanophones in the EU, this means plugging a really big hole. Only 18 more languages to go, said Nanne.

But it is almost unbelievable that the work has to be done by private individuals and more or less independent organisations. (That is why I likened the EU treaties to samizdat literature.)

Nanne’s post gave further backing to the claims about the deliberate nature of non-publishing from member states’ governments.

Yesterday another, positive but hesitant, step was taken. Eurooppatiedotus, i.e. Europe Information, which is part of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, discreetly updated two of its press releases on the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon. The new text inserted promises consolidated versions (presumably in Finnish and Swedish) during the spring of 2008. I reported this on my Finnish and Swedish blogs.

This promise is a step forward. But, the consolidated treaties in force exist, and the final Treaty of Lisbon has been published in the Official Journal. Shouldn’t merging the two, and publishing the new consolidation on the web be a matter of days, rather than months?

***

I still am amazed at the short-sightedness of the European governments and their cronies. How could they knowingly enter upon a course which is bound to tarnish their image and undermine their credibility? Why did they embargo the convenient tools needed for democratic debate based on facts, not only by the rabid Europhobes, but by the pro-European citizens as well? Why have they chosen to multiply the efforts needed by students and teachers of EU politics and law?

The new Commission web site dedicated to the Treaty of Lisbon lacks the essential, i.e. the anticipatory consolidations of the treaties in every official language. Instead, it steadfastly refuses to give us consolidated versions before the Lisbon Treaty has entered into force.

Therefore, the search for consolidated treaties continues. All eyes are on individual governments, semi-private organisations and private individuals. It is up to you to break the deadlock.

Fortress Incommunicando is crumbling, but I am, as ever, grateful for every crumb of information on its demise.


Ralf Grahn

EU Treaty of Lisbon: Spanish update

Real Instituto Elcano has swiftly updated its Spanish consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon to accord with the final text of the amending treaty. José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares and Mariola Urrea Corres handled the fine-tuning as well as the editing of the previous version.

The web page offers an introductory explanation to the Lisbon Treaty, written by Martín y Pérez de Nanclares.

The other consolidated language versions (English, French and Swedish) should be adjusted accordingly.

The real blot on the record is that nineteen language versions are still missing (as far as I know). Until they are published, all talk of openness, transparency, accountability, equality, decisions taken near the citizens and re-engaging citizens are rubbish.

Why does the Council want to alienate EU citizens?


Ralf Grahn


Source:

Real Instituto Elcano: Tratado de Lisboa (la versíon consolidada definitiva);
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano/FuturoEuropa/TratadodeLisboa2007

Consolidated Treaty of Lisbon

People may be for or against, or undecided, but all have a right to readable information on
the Reform Treaty of the European Union, to be named the Treaty of Lisbon.

Quite a number of people seem to be looking for consolidated versions, with the new Treaties inserted into the existing ones. Some might even be ready to base their opinions on facts.

Therefore, I am going to repeat information which can be found in different blog postings since the middle of October.

The official, reader-unfriendly version of the Treaty of Lisbon consists of two documents of the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007), dated 3 December 2007: the Final Act (CIG 15/07) and the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community (CIG 14/07), posted on the web site of the Council.

The intergovernmental conference 2007 has accomplished its task. The signing ceremony takes place in Lisbon on 13 December 2007.

The official text is hard to read, since it consists of amendments. In order to see the Treaties as a whole, you need to compare with the existing Treaties.

***

The citizens of the European Union need reader-friendly, or at least a little bit less unreadable, versions of the new Treaties. In a Union in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen (Article 1, paragraph 2, of both the present and the amended EU Treaty) and which observes the principle of the equality of its citizens, who shall receive equal attention from its institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (Article 8 of the amended EU Treaty), consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon should be available to every citizen in his or her language.

Until now, the institutions of the European Union or the governments of the Member States have not made consolidations available. Luckily, other bodies have published consolidated versions, in four of the 23 official languages of the EU.

The Irish Institute of European Affairs (IIEA) and professor Steve Peers (Statewatch Observatory on the Constitution/Reform Treaty) have published consolidations in English. The French National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) has produced a French version and the think-tank Real Instituto Elcano a Spanish one.

The web addresses are:

http://www.iiea.com English
http://www.statewatch.org English
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr French
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org Spanish

Are there other consolidations, which I have not noticed, yet? Are there plans for other language versions?

I am grateful for information you might have.


Ralf Grahn

Reader-friendly Treaty of Lisbon

Finally the cause for consolidated versions of the EU Reform Treaty or Treaty of Lisbon seems to make headway.

At a joint meeting for members of 27 EU national parliaments and of the European Parliament, Jo Leinen, chairman of the EP Constitutional Affairs Committee, stressed the need for a proper communication policy to explain the content and the objectives of the reform to the public. He called for a reader-friendly version of the over-complex Reform Treaty.

Jean-Luc Dehaene said that it is necessary that citizens are fully involved regardless of the ratification procedure chosen by each Member State.

***

The French National Assembly has published a 281 page report by its Foreign Affairs Committee, with consolidated versions on the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union. This consolidated Treaty in French is based on the 18 October 2007 version; thus, some linguistic modifications may have been made in the final treaty texts which have been posted on the IGC 2007 web site of the Council.

***

In accordance with the principle of equality of the citizens of the Union (Treaty of Lisbon, Article 8) more readable, user-friendly consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon should be published instantly by one of the institutions of the European Union in all the official languages of the EU and distributed widely in collaboration with the Member States.

The same procedure should be applied to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, including (the languages of) the countries whose leaders have chosen to opt out. Citizens should be treated equally by the EU institutions.


Ralf Grahn


Sources:

National parliaments’ role in EU affairs improved by new Treaty; European Parliament News, 4 December 2007; http://www.europalr.europa.eu

Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf