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European Parliament's centre-right grouping has declared war on David Cameron and said a new Conservative government must not be allowed to derail the Lisbon Treaty. The Tory leader has angered the European People's Party (EPP) after pulling out of the grouping to form a new Eurosceptic bloc called the European Conservatives and Reformists. Mr Cameron's pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon European Union Treaty, if it remains unratified by the Irish by the time of a British general election, has also alarmed the Brussels establishment as Labour goes into political meltdown. Joseph Daul, the chairman of EEP, the...

The European Union has slipped the leash of democratic control. It is one thing to advance the Monnet Project by treaty creep and stealth directives. It is another to put questions of sovereignty to a popular vote and then refuse to abide by the outcome. Europe's elites have crossed a political line by reviving the EU Constitution under the guise of the Lisbon Treaty and ramming it through without referendums, after it had already been rejected by French and Dutch voters. To continue a second time after rejection by the Irish – alone in voting – amounts to a putsch....

Ministers insist other countries must ratify deal despite Ireland's 'no' vote Germany and France moved to isolate Ireland in the European Union yesterday, scrambling for ways to resuscitate the Lisbon Treaty a day after the Irish dealt the architects of the EU's new regime a crushing blow. Refusing to take Ireland's 'no' for an answer, politicians in Berlin and Paris prepared for a crucial EU summit in Brussels this week by trying to ringfence the Irish while demanding that the treaty be ratified by the rest of the EU. The scene is now set for a major clash between the...

Irish voters struck a blow for democracy in Europe this week, stopping a power play by the Continent's political elites. On the ballot was the Lisbon Treaty, which European Union grandees in Brussels pitched as a tidying-up exercise to make the bloc's institutions work better. Most everyone else saw Lisbon for what it really was: An attempt to sneak through a dolled-up version of the failed "EU Constitution." That constitution was hailed as Europe's entrée to a U.S.-size presence on the world stage, complete with a nonelected president and a beefier defense and foreign policy. It was rejected by French...

After the proposed EU Constitution was soundly defeated by the people of Europe in 2005, promoters repackaged it as the Lisbon Treaty. This extraordinary anti-democratic move was intended to secure passage without public referenda. The Irish Constitution however, provided requirements that led to a referendum on the renamed constitution anyway. Not surprisingly, the proposed constitution / treaty met defeat once again. (55% - 45%) The propaganda campaign in Ireland followed the same pattern as the European campaign in 2005. The YES campaign lacked any reason for Europeans to accept the dictatorial power structure that the constitution / treaty would...

Ireland's PM Brian Cowen has launched a strong attack on opponents of a key EU reform treaty ahead of the country's referendum on the issue on Thursday. Mr. Cowen accused to No campaign of "sheer inaccuracy and absurdity" and said Ireland could not get a better deal than the one on offer. Opponents say the Lisbon Treaty should be renegotiated. Recent opinion polls suggest the result of the referendum-the only one being held in a EU country-could be close. The other 26 members of the EU are using parliamentary votes to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. But Ireland is obliged to...

Ireland’s no campaign has a five-point lead just days before the vital vote on the reform treaty; and Brussels has no plan C UNDER a drizzly sky, the Eurocrats of Brussels smiled and handed out balloons at their annual open day yesterday. Behind closed doors, however, as one official admitted: “They’re all s******* themselves.” Patricia McKenna, the Eurosceptic campaigner and former Green party MEP, outside the European parliment in Dublin with cardboard cutouts of EU leaders In four days Ireland will vote on the European reform treaty and polling suggests that the “no” camp will win. If it does, the...

I do not argue that the problems of early 21st-century Europe are identical to those of late 18th-century America. I am now myself a federalist. Yet the Americans did have to face similar problems in trying to reconcile the relationship of the federal government with the individual states - the very questions that confront Europe in the Lisbon treaty. The American Constitution has succeeded in providing the US with a stable democratic framework that has survived the great changes of the past two centuries, including - in the 20th century - two world wars, a Cold War and a slump....

Behind closed doors, over diplomatic dinners, in the corridors of departments, embassies, ministries and chanceries, Europe’s rulers are playing a “once in a lifetime” game for the future of the European Union. As I have already noted, here and here, this is a power play to which the public is not even a spectator. Substantial negotiations are underway on the biggest European job carve up package, including Nato, in the EU’s existence. The rules of the game, the players and the running score are known only to a tiny group of EU leaders and their most senior civil servants. The...

Yesterday’s smiles and handshakes masked fears among European leaders that voters could yet scupper their grand project. Two years ago, after a similarly lavish signing ceremony, referendums in France and the Netherlands halted the treaty’s predecessor, the EU constitution. Now all eyes are turning to Ireland, which is staging the only referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. Supporters are growing increasingly nervous that opponents will converge on Ireland to halt the whole treaty. An opposition campaign was launched in Ireland yesterday by the Libertas Institute think-tank, founded by Declan Ganley, a millionaire businessman. “The Irish people have a duty to...

Thatcher urges Brown to allow EU treaty referendumLady Thatcher today urged Gordon Brown to allow a referendum on the EU Treaty. "This Treaty matters Prime Minister, so be bold and let the British people have the final say!" The former Prime Minister backed the newspaper campaigns for a referendum, saying: "Yet again the British people are being told that the changes in the Treaty are not important, that they are technical, and that in any case we have either blocked or gained opt-outs in all the worst cases. Well we've heard it all before only to see more and more...

A draft constitution was previously rejected by French and Dutch voters Legal experts from the 27 countries of the European Union have agreed on a draft reform treaty. The treaty is set to replace the defunct European constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters. Portugal, which holds the EU presidency until the end of the year, hopes to get agreement on the treaty at an EU summit in Lisbon later this month. Possible domestic opposition to the treaty in Poland and Britain mean they may present the biggest hurdles. The treaty aims to streamline the workings of the EU...

The Dutch government has decided not to hold a referendum on the latest European Union treaty. The so-called Reform Treaty was agreed upon in June by representatives of the 27 member states. It is meant to replace the EU constitution which failed after Dutch and French voters rejected it in referendums in 2005. The decision means the Reform Treaty will be sent to the Dutch parliament, where it is expected to be approved by a wide majority. The cabinet's decision to scrap the referendum did not come easily. For the second week in a row, Friday's cabinet meeting dragged on...

Poland backs Britain in EU opt-out The Polish Government announced that it would join Britain in opting out of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, a cornerstone of the new treaty meant to replace the proposed European Union constitution. In June, EU leaders agreed the framework of a treaty to improve EU organisation in place of the constitution that was torpedoed by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Britain negotiated its opt-out at the EU summit. The summit framework said the treaty would note that “nothing” in the Charter of Fundamental Rights – rights enjoyed by EU citizens and residents –...

British withdrawal from the EU is coming into sharper focus, with all the grave consequences that will ensue for the Atlantic order and the cause of market liberalism. For this we can thank those who recklessly - or mischievously - chose to revive the European Constitution after rejection by the French and Dutch people, when common sense urged Brussels to lie low, lick its wounds, and rediscover patience. By reopening this can of worms, they have already let France's Nicolas Sarkozy excise the clause "free and undistorted competition" from the core objectives of the Union. Adieu to the single market,...

Do you remember the European Constitution? Yes, the one rejected by the French and Dutch? That same European Constitution on which the Labour Government promised the British people a referendum before the last General Election? Well, it's back with a vengeance. Like some old Hammer horror movie, the constitution has returned from the dead, now repackaged as a 'treaty.' The so-called 'new' EU Treaty has all the same ingredients as the old constitution. In fact, it was revealed yesterday that it is 96 per cent identical to the old constitution. And so the response to this newly repackaged threat to...

The proposed EU constitution met with defeat in 2005. As predicted (see link in article to left) supporters found a way around the democratic process. They have reintroduced a barely modified version as a treaty to avoid public referenda.In view of this development, I think readers should be aware of the research and analysis of Vladimir Bukovksy, the 64-year old former Soviet dissident who fears (as I do) that the European Union is on its way to becoming another Soviet Union. In a speech delivered in Brussels (February, 2006), Mr Bukovsky called the EU a “monster” that must be...

The proposed EU Constitution was defeated by a public referendum in France in May of 2005. According to the rules, this democratic process put an end to it. But as soon as the defeat was clear, it began to look as though its sponsors were not about to let democracy stand in their way. (article)This week, European citizens are bracing for the new sales pitch. This time however, they will not be allowed to vote. After the defeat, the process continued to test the political machinery. In most cases in which parliaments rather than citizens decided, the constitution was...

Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in Berlin last night to discuss how to resurrect a new constitution for the European Union. Reinfeldt expressed his support for the Germans’ efforts to come up with a draft that all 27 EU countries can accept, after voters in the Netherlands and France rejected the proposed constitution in 2005. After the meeting he said Sweden’s views were heard, and the meeting was part of efforts to get Sweden to play a more constructive role in EU affairs. Germany has held the rotating...

29 March 2007 BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell on the European Union's growing, but often unrecognised, role in the field of foreign policy, and continuing support for the idea of an EU foreign minister. The diary is published every Thursday. To always see the latest edition, please click here and bookmark this page. FINGER-WAGGING EU peacekeepers have been very active in the Balkans Do tyrants cower when the European Parliament denounces their misdeeds? I thought we were going to find out this week. After all, the parliament passes regular motions condemning appalling behaviour, here there and everywhere. They've just...