THE LISBON Treaty faces its final hurdle in Germany this morning when the country’s highest court rules on constitutional challenges that have held up ratification.
Expectations are high that the constitutional court in Karlsruhe will dismiss the challenges and clear the way for ratification but, in line with earlier EU rulings, it may be a qualified Yes.
Germany’s highest court may use the ruling to warn Berlin about the direction or pace of European integration or revive its role as a watchdog over Berlin’s relationship with Brussels.
The German complainants told the court in February that the treaty, once in force, will dilute parliamentary power and curtail constitutional rights. Foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, expected in Karlsruhe this morning, dismissed those claims during oral arguments, saying that “member states remain the masters of the treaties”.
With no tradition of ratification by referendum in Germany, and parliamentary ratification usually a given, Karlsruhe is the final instance on European treaties.
Speculation is high that today’s verdict may join the ranks of two previous landmark verdicts that defined Germany’s relationship with the EU. The constitutional court ruled in 1974 that it was entitled to examine all incoming European regulations and rule inapplicable anything it viewed as a violation of German law.
The ruling, euphemistically named after the qualifier “solange” (as long as), said that as long as the EU did not have codified fundamental rights, Karlsruhe viewed German fundamental rights as supreme.
In 1986 the court rolled back this controlling function in a ruling known as “solange II” – but only as long as EU treaties guaranteed the same fundamental rights as the German constitution.
In addition, the judges are expected to address claims made during oral arguments that Lisbon would permit a further dilution of their own powers in favour of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. “The court has always had a rather tense relationship with Europe, looking on jealously and asking ‘where do we fit into this game’?” said Jan Techau, director of the Alfred von Oppenheim Centre for European Policy Studies in Berlin. “I expect this will be the most interesting part of the verdict: how the court intends to reposition itself.”
