Stuart Wheeler to appeal after High Court dismisses referendum case
25 June 2008
Stuart Wheeler today lost his High Court battle over the Government's refusal to hold a referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty. Two judges rejected his claim that he had a "legitimate expectation" that there would be a public vote. Their ruling was based in particular on the fact that “Parliament has addressed the question whether there should be a referendum and, in passing the European Union (Amendment) Act 2008, has decided against one.”
The court refused Mr Wheeler permission to appeal. Lord Justice Richards said: "We are satisfied that an appeal has no prospect of success. Whilst the issues raised are interesting and important, that is outweighed by the desirability of certainty and the avoidance of unnecessary delay in this matter.” Mr Wheeler said on the steps of the Law Courts that he would ask the Appeal Court to hear his case. He said: "I have high hopes of winning on appeal. We shall apply to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal and we will see what they say."
PA reports that Downing Street has said the Government would now proceed with the final stages of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which involves depositing the "instruments of ratification" in Rome. Asked whether ministers would delay the process until it is clear whether Mr Wheeler can secure an appeal, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman said: "Judge Richards did refuse leave to appeal and made very clear that he sees no compelling reason why an appeal should be heard and referred to the desirability of certainty and the avoidance of unnecessary delay in this matter. At the moment no appeal has been lodged and therefore we will proceed with ratification. The normal process normally takes a few days or weeks."
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Slovenian Presidency: EU should have common football team
The Independent notes that Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country currently holds the rotating chair of the EU, has proposed that the EU should have a common football team. Jansa told the European Parliament yesterday that, "For identity, it is very important that people are able to connect with something that is common. For example, a football team of the European Union. We could have a football match between the EU and a Latin American team or the African Union." He said that similar representative teams in the past “attracted much more attention among citizens than our meetings. We should learn from this."
Commission and FCO reject Sarkozy’s claim that further enlargement is impossible without Lisbon Treaty
At a conference at the LSE yesterday on the French EU Presidency, Simon Fraser, Director-General of Europe and Globalisation at the FCO, said “On the issue of the Lisbon Treaty and future enlargement, all I can say is I hope President Sarkozy is right - I hope that we will have ratified the Lisbon Treaty before we come to further enlargement. But I wouldn’t accept that there is an objective reason why failure to ratify the Lisbon Treaty should preclude further enlargement, there is no objective reason for that. There’s a political issue that needs to be resolved, but I don’t think we should set that clear condition.”
Likewise European Voice reports that Johannes Laitenberger, Commission President Jose Barroso’s spokesman, said on Monday: “From a legal point of view the Nice treaty does not pose an obstacle to further enlargement”.
Meanwhile the French Senate has rejected an amendment agreed by the lower house for all future EU enlargements to countries representing five percent or more of the EU population to be subject to an obligatory referendum in France. All the groups in the Senate denounced the amendment as “offensive” and “discriminatory” against Turkey, “an ally and friend”. Also, MEPs in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee have approved a report stating that future enlargement rounds should depend on the EU’s “absorption capacity”, in what is seen as a sign of growing scepticism towards further enlargement.
Coulisses de Bruxelles EUobserver
France to hold “discreet talks” to bring in Lisbon provisions ahead of ratification
Euractiv reports that at a meeting in Brussels yesterday Pierre Ménat, Director for European co-operation in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that several projects contained in the Lisbon Treaty could be carried out even before its ratification. He singled out the European External Action Service (EEAS), saying that whatever the problems related to this project, it could be carried out successfully through "discreet talks".
French Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet said at the same meeting that the aim of President Sarkozy's forthcoming visit to Ireland on July 11 was to assess the situation. "What do they want?," he asked. He listed the possible guarantees the Irish might like to add to the Treaty – on their neutrality, on taxes, on religious values and abortion, or on particular aid. "Then it will become clear if there is a need to reopen or not to reopen the Treaty," he said.
Jouyet said that in the light of the Irish referendum, France would need to amend its six-month EU Presidency programme. He said the most affected element will be the re-launch of a "Europe of defence". However, in a speech at the LSE yesterday, the French Ambassador Maurice Gourdault-Montagne identified virtually identical priorities for the French Presidency that Jouyet had detailed in a speech at the LSE last month.
Referring to the Irish no vote, the Ambassador said that “Nobody is in the business of bullying or isolating any country. Nobody is in the business of circumventing the legal necessity of 27 ratifications for the Treaty of Lisbon to enter into force, or to ignore the provisions of the Irish constitution. But, it is not clear yet how this issue will be resolved. The first thing we need to know is why the Irish took the step that they took, and whether there is any chance for them to ratify the Treaty.” He said that Britain and France “stand shoulder to shoulder” on this issue.
At the same conference, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, French Presidency Ambassador for the Cultural Dimension of the EU, argued, “We must set Europe back on track through culture”. He said “The Europe of culture is the new frontier”, and said culture should be used “to convince our people of the reality of European success.” He said the French Presidency would push forward concrete projects in the field of culture, and that “Awareness of our common European values is a step towards acceptance of our project.”
A leader in the IHT argues "The Irish vote should not be allowed to derail the treaty. Unlike the French and Dutch rejections of 2005, which found echoes in many member states, Ireland's is a lonely ‘no.’ A few days after the Irish referendum, the British House of Lords completed the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty in the most Euroskeptic of all EU members, making it likely that by summer's end Ireland will be all alone in its opposition. That isolation, along with a few face-saving tweaks to the treaty and some smarter campaigning, should make it possible for Dublin to find a way to say yes. It's the only answer."
In an interview with El Pais Czech President Vaclav Klaus argues “The EU cannot ignore its own rules. The Lisbon Treaty was rejected by Ireland in a broad and democratic manner and, therefore, cannot enter into force. Any attempt to ignore this fact and return to political manipulation and pressuring to bring the text back will have disastrous effects for the EU.”
Gideon Rachman responds on his blog to an earlier article by his FT colleague Wolfgang Munchau, which suggested that Ireland could be forced out of the EU if it does not approve the Lisbon Treaty: “I admired a splendid polemic. It had everything: anger, manic energy, a powerful argument, originality. But there was one point where Wolfgang lost me. He wrote: ‘I do not want to get into the legal details of how a country’s departure from the EU could be accomplished. Suffice it to say that it can be done within European law as long as there is political will.’ I like the slightly sinister refusal to divulge the means by which Ireland and the Czech Republic will be forced out of the EU. (‘We have ways of making you leave.’) But I just think that Wolfgang is wrong. I don’t think there is a legal means to force a country to leave the EU against its will. Wolfman - if you are out there - please enlighten me.”
BBC Europe Correspondent Mark Mardell reflects on last week’s EU summit on his blog: “As I understand it, no one was crude enough to directly suggest that the Irish prime minister call another referendum, but it was the assumption that hung in the air.”
BBC Mardell Euractiv IHT FT Rachman El Pais European Voice
Jim Murphy admits “mistakes were made” over handling of Lisbon Treaty
Europe Minister Jim Murphy is interviewed by the Economist. When asked if the Government could have better handled the EU Constitution and the Lisbon Treaty, he said: “In retrospect, mistakes were made. The biggest mistake was not taking the people with us in the conversation from the beginning.”
Oxfam: EU’s biofuels target could multiply carbon emissions 70-fold
The BBC notes that a new report from Oxfam estimates that the EU's target of making 10% of all transport run on renewable resources by 2020 could multiply carbon emissions 70-fold by 2020 by changing the use of land. The report also claims that biofuel production has already dragged more than 30 million people worldwide into poverty.
Mandelson snubs Sarkozy’s dinner
The Guardian reports that Peter Mandelson will not attend an Elysée Palace dinner hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy next week. The dinner will mark France’s take-over of the EU’s rotating Presidency. The move is seen as a snub by Mandelson, after Sarkozy blamed him for the Irish no vote to the Lisbon Treaty.
Lord Tebbitt: EU could reverse UK’s anti-strike laws
In the Mail, Lord Tebbitt argues that the combination of “newly implemented human rights and European law” could now be used to create a de facto 'right to strike' in the UK. He argues, “And so if there is widespread secondary action this year, my Eighties legislation will have to be tested in court. And the highest court in the land is no longer the House of Lords, but the foreign judges in a foreign court in Brussels. And I think I know how those judges would rule.”
In Svenska Dagbladet, Margot Wallstrom argues that the EU “has on no occasion ignored the concerns or hesitations citizens feel over a new Treaty”.
30% of British people think EU membership a good thing
Le Figaro reports on a poll by TNS Sofres which shows that only 48% of French and 30% of British people think that EU membership is good for their country. The figure was highest in the Netherlands where 75% think it is a good thing, followed by Ireland (73%), Spain and Poland (65%), Germany (60%) and Sweden (54%). The average of all 27 member states was 52%. Meanwhile a poll for Les Echos shows that 57% of French people are sceptical about the ability of Nicolas Sarkozy during the French EU presidency to “re-launch Europe” after the Irish No vote. 31% responded positively.
Le Monde reports that following the Irish no vote, the referendum Denmark was planning to hold in the autumn on its derogations from EU justice and defence could be delayed by a year.
UK
Brown continues to sink in polls
A Guardian/ICM poll puts the Conservatives on 45%, up four from last month, Labour on 25% and the Lib Dems on 20%. 74% of those asked said Gordon Brown has been a change for the worse compared with Tony Blair, and only 24% think Labour has a chance of winning the next election while he remains leader.