Parliament sends strong signal with Treaty vote[fr][de] 

In a vote on 20 February, 525 MEPs voted in favour of the EU's 'Reform Treaty' and 115, mainly from the far left and the far right, voted against it. 

Protests were voiced mainly by British and Danish eurosceptics, who claim the treaty is essentially a reworked version of the rejected Constitution and that it should be put to a referendum. 

"The truth is that you are too chicken to have a referendum," Nigel Farage, a British member of Parliament's Independence/Democracy Group told treaty supporters, accusing them of resorting to "totalitarian means" to get the text through. "What the EP is engaged in here in today's debate is nothing less than a massive exercise of deceit," he commented. 

Thus far, Ireland remains the only EU member set to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and Farage expressed his hope that Irish citizens would give a "large resounding 'no'" to the text. 

The vote is expected to be held in May or June and Ireland's European Affairs Minister Dick Roche has admitted that securing a 'yes' vote may prove to be a "big challenge". "We can't be complacent," he said, adding that an Irish rejection of the treaty would "park Europe in a eurosceptic cul-de-sac". 

Meanwhile, treaty ratification could be delayed in Germany, meaning that the EU's largest country would not sign off the treaty in time for it to come into force at the beginning of 2009 as planned. According to a report in German daily Die Welt, politicians from the Left Party, as well as Peter Gauweiler, a centre-right politician from one of governing parties - the CSU - are examining the text to see if they can bring a case before the country's constitutional court. 

German MPs are widely expected to approve the treaty when it comes before parliament in May. However, the text then needs to be signed off by the country's president, Horst Köhler. 

If this does happen, Köhler would have to decide whether to go ahead and sign off the treaty anyway or rather wait for the court to make its case, meaning ratification would be delayed. 

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering, who has had several recent clashes with British eurosceptics as regards the Treaty, admonished the critics by saying: "If your parents could see you, they would be ashamed." He welcomed “the overwhelming majority” for the Treaty, saying it was "a clear expression of the desire for more democracy and a greater capacity of the Union to deliver". 

A key element of the Treaty will be to make Parliament "an equal law-making partner" with the Council on "almost 100 percent of legislation" by extending the use of qualified majority voting, he said. He added that by reducing the size of the Commission, the Union would also become more effective. 

Supporters of the treaty also claimed it would give the Union important instruments to act more efficiently in key areas of concern for citizens, such as climate change, international terrorism and cross-border crime. 

British Socialist MEP Richard Corbett applauded the enshrinement of the Charter of Fundamental Rights into the Treaty, saying it would ensure "that EU law does not violate basic standards of human rights". 

This Treaty will "re-launch European dynamism after years of institutional debate" and signals "the return of politics to Europe," commented Joseph Daul, chairman of the EPP group in the EP. "With the Treaty of Lisbon, Europe can initiate deep reforms in areas strategically important for the future such as climate, energy or migratory flows. On these issues, a Europe of 27 together is more effective than 27 separate approaches." 

EPP co-rapporteur on the treaty, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, also supported the Lisbon Treaty, saying it had preserved "the essential points" of the Constitution. Europe had shown "that it can find a solution," he added, referring to the resolution of the deadlock following the rejection of the Constitution in French and Dutch referenda almost three years ago. 

The Liberals in the EP (ALDE) considered the vote as "a defeat for euroscepticism". British Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff said he was looking forward to the day when the Union could stand "on its own two feet in world affairs," showing confidence that this day would come when the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force. He nevertheless criticised the British government for being "too frightened" to stand up for the full Treaty, referring to the UK opt-outs. 

Polish Liberal Bronislaw Geremek said the treaty is the "foundation to build the future and create a true space for European citizens". 

However, Irish MEP Mary Lou McDonald (GUE/NGL) blamed countries for their "fear of referenda," with her country being the exception to the rule. "This treaty is not about reform or efficiency, it is a carte blanche for further erosion of democracy," she said, criticising the text as it "commits us to more military spending and increased support of armaments". "The Lisbon treaty is a bad deal for Ireland, a bad deal for Europe, and a bad deal for the wider world," McDonald concluded. 

The president of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), Mercedes Bresso, welcomed the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in the Parliament. However, Bresso stressed that "more must be done for European democracy. If European citizens are not informed about the content of the new European Treaty, its democratic progress will be no more than a farce." 

The UEF regretted that, compared to the Constitutional Treaty, the Lisbon Treaty is "less clear and readable and less ambitious" in founding a political and democratic Union.