Clear votes for new EU Treaty in Denmark, Austria and Germany

The ratification process for the new Treaty gained momentum yesterday (24 April) as the Danish and Austrian parliaments approved the text, which also easily passed Germany’s lower House. The votes in Vienna and Copenhagen mean the Treaty has now been adopted in 11 out of 27 countries.

In Denmark, parliament ratified the new Treaty with a clear 90-25 majority, while 64 MPs, including Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, were absent during the vote. The populist Danish People’s Party, which has otherwise backed Rasmussen’s minority government in recent years, voted against ratification. 

Earlier on Thursday, Austria’s upper House followed the example of the lower House in approving the treaty with a strong 151-27 majority thanks to the support of the ruling Social Democrats, the conservative People’s Party and the opposition Greens. The two right-wing opposition parties, the FPÖ and the BZÖ, voted against it. President Heinz Fischer now has to sign the Treaty for it to be ratified, but this is considered a formality. 

Commission President José Manuel Barroso welcomed the support for the Treaty in Austria and Denmark, saying “the ratification process is now well advanced and I look forward to its successful conclusion”. 

Meanwhile, the lower House of the German parliament, the Bundestag, approved the treaty with 515 MPs voting in favour and only 58 against it – a considerably higher show of support than the required two-thirds majority. A second and final vote is now expected to take place in Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, next month. 

Speaking ahead of the vote, Chancellor Angela Merkel described the treaty as ‘good for Europe’ and a ‘win for Germany’. It would provide a solid basis for Europe to move forward, said the chancellor, who was one of the main driving forces towards agreeing the treaty. 

Joseph Daul, the leader of the EPP-ED group, called the vote a “milestone in the ongoing ratification process”. 

Bavarian MEP Peter Gauweiler of the Christian Socialist Party (CSU) was among the few not to join the pro-European chorus, announcing that he planned to take legal action against ratification of the Treaty before the country’s highest court. 

“What the Treaty brings Brussels in terms of new competences is not compatible with our democratic principles,” Gauweiler told the Saarbrücker Zeitung. 

Simlar feelings are being voiced by the eurosceptic Czech parliament. It asked the nation’s Constitutional Court yesterday (24 April) to review whether or not the Lisbon Treaty is constitutional. The proposal was initiated by the right-wing Civic Democrats of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who founded the party, is also a critic of the treaty but has pledged not to block its ratification. 

For the Treaty to enter into force, all 27 member states have to ratify it. Ahead of Austria and Denmark, nine countries had already given their approval to the next, namely Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Portugal.

Ireland is set to be the only country to hold a referendum on the Treaty, which is scheduled for 12 June. 

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