Poland strikes deal on EU Treaty ratification

The government and the nationalist opposition have struck an agreement on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, ending a dispute that threatened to upset Poland’s ratification of a text which the nationalists had fought hard to secure at a summit last year.

The country’s Parliament will hold a vote on the Treaty during a special session that could take place as early as Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Sunday (30 March).

“The president and I reached an agreement,” Tusk told a news conference in the Baltic city of Gdansk, the Associated Press reported. “I hope that this will end the unnecessary chaos surrounding ratification.”

“I am convinced our agreement will be approved by Parliament,” Tusk added.

A parliamentary majority in favour of the Lisbon Treaty was uncertain after the nationalist opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party threatened to withdraw its support.

Former Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the President’s twin brother and current leader of the opposition, had insisted on adding a preamble to the ratification bill that would guarantee Poland’s sovereignty over the EU on major decisions. 

Kaczynski had also insisted on an opt-out from the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, obtained at an EU Summit last year when he was in power (EURACTIV 19/10/07). The Prime Minister was concerned that the Charter would limit Warsaw’s ability to maintain its traditional Roman Catholic family policy, which only recognises marriages between a man and a woman. The President and his twin brother also feared that the Charter could open the door for Germans to reclaim individual ownership rights on land granted to Poland after World War II.

Under the agreement, the ratification bill will be voted upon by Parliament, along with an accompanying resolution containing references to Poland’s sovereignty.

Support from the Law and Justice (PiS) party is considered crucial if Parliament is to reach the two thirds majority necessary to ratify the Treaty.

But Tusk has signalled that he might call for a referendum if Parliament proved incapable of passing the bill. Latest polls showed 65% of Poles are in favour of the Treaty, 15% opposed and 20% without an opinion.

Read more with Euractiv

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