At the December EU summit in Brussels, the participating countries (with the exception of the UK) agreed to adopt common rules of budget discipline, which create on the basis of existing European structures a more integrated political union with a supervisory body empowered to stop budget 'waste'. It is no secret that the main provisions of the new treaty were prepared in Berlin, which other countries often accused of 'usurping' European policy in its own interests.
Nevertheless, Chancellor Angela Merkel managed to convince the other European leaders, except British Prime Minister David Cameron, of the need for austerity. However, as it turned out later, parliaments in a number of European countries were skeptical of the new treaty, according to which states would have to transfer even more sovereignty to Brussels officials.
The first to face difficulties associated with the ratification of the treaty was the Irish parliament, which could not decide whether the commitments need to be enshrined at the constitutional level, which would require a nationwide referendum. In this regard, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny established a referendum commission, which at any time will be ready to hold a plebiscite. 'I cannot say anything about whether we will hold a referendum on the ratification of the intergovernmental agreement until it is reviewed by the Attorney General,' Kenny said.
According to opinion polls, the country's population is skeptical of the new agreements and will certainly reject it in a referendum. Recall that earlier the Irish voted against the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, which provided for deepening integration processes in the European Union.
The necessary majority for ratification of the new treaty is unlikely to be obtained in the Danish parliament. 'We demand a nationwide referendum because this is too important an issue to be decided only by politicians,' says Anders Samuelsen, leader of one of the largest parliamentary factions of the Liberal Alliance. 'It involves a de facto renunciation of part of sovereignty, so the decision should be made by the people of Denmark. We are not at all opposed to special economic measures. On the contrary, we are confident that many of them should be implemented in Denmark. However, we are against having our sovereign right to decide this and other issues taken away from us.'
The government of the Netherlands, which does not have the support of a parliamentary majority, will probably not be able to avoid a referendum. This is insisted not only by the right-wing radical Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, but also by opposition parties of the left flank. In Finland, opposition parties threaten to bring the issue of ratification of the new treaty to the Constitutional Court if the government does not agree to hold a referendum. Also in the parliaments of Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Latvia, opposition politicians promise to do everything possible to prevent the ratification of the treaty.
Anton NEVZLIN.