British officials seek protection for foreign policy in EU treaty
by David Charter, Europe Correspondent
British officials held emergency talks in Brussels yesterday to
hammer out stronger guarantees that the new EU treaty will not give
European judges the right to challenge foreign policy.
The meeting will be followed by another on the legal details today,
in a sign that the Government is nervous about the impact of the
proposed treaty, despite repeated assurances that it will not leave
diplomacy open to challenge in the European Court of Justice.
British officials hope to agree new wording by Friday to make it
"crystal-clear" that the treaty, which is replacing the failed EU
constitution, cannot be used in Europe's highest court in Luxembourg by
pressure groups or anyone else to challenge foreign policy decisions.
Publicly David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has consistently said
that he is content with the outline agreement of the new treaty that was
reached in Brussels in June.
He insisted that there was no need for the referendum promised by
Tony Blair on the EU constitution because this was a different style of
treaty that did not threaten British sovereignty. But behind the scenes
officials were pressing for greater assurances.
The first draft of the treaty text was said to have alarmed British
negotiators because it suggested that international agreements made
under the EU's common foreign and security policy could be open to
challenge in the courts. They saw this as a watering down of a key
"red-line" demand that Britain retains full control of its foreign
policy decisions with no possible chance of EU judges overruling them.
British officials realised that without an immediate strong challenge
public confidence in the new treaty could be further undermined, just
when ministers are coming under increasing pressure to hold a
referendum.
After calls for a referendum, officials hope to have a declaration in
Brussels by Friday that the treaty will not leave foreign policy open to
legal challenge. One EU source said: "What the British want is an
over-arching clause that states that the European Court of Justice has
no jurisdiction over common foreign and security policy."
Europolitics, a Brussels-based newsletter, reported yesterday:
"Gordon Brown's Government has demanded clarification on the place of
foreign policy and common security policy in the future treaty, asking
for guarantees about the independence of British diplomacy, particularly
concerning the authority of the European Court of Justice in this area."
A government spokesman in Brussels insisted that the bilateral talks
between British and European Commission lawyers were part of the normal
process of negotiating the fine print of a treaty. He said: "We secured
all of our red lines in June. Lawyers are now turning that agreement
into a treaty text and the UK will ensure that all its red lines are
fully respected."
The new treaty is designed to replace the EU constitution that was
rejected in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005. It
contains many of the reforms envisaged in the constitution, however,
such as creating an EU foreign minister.
It will also reduce the number of commissioners and create a powerful
role of full-time president of the European Council to co-ordinate the
27 members. National vetoes will be scrapped over decision-making in a
series of justice and criminal policy areas but Britain has won the
right to opt out of new measures agreed by qualified-majority voting.
- Timesonline, UK
|