EU citizen rights row re-runs

Looming referendums and national pressures are reopening old political wounds over an EU constitution.

Monday’s relaunch of Europe’s constitutional talks was marred by old rows over the legal standing of an EU ‘Charter of Fundamental Rights’ surfacing again.

Britain is rehearsing traditional arguments over a set of European rights once compared by London to a children’s comic.

The French government, facing a rout at European elections and beating off internal calls for a constitutional referendum, is insisting on a “social Europe”.

Germany is not to be left out, Berlin, to great Kanzleramt relief, is spared the rigours of a constitution vote but is getting a bumpy political ride over EU-driven labour market reforms.

Ireland, overseeing the EU’s rotating presidency is caught in the middle, with Dublin officials protesting that nothing has changed.

Speaking on Monday UK foreign minister Jack Straw clashed, “again” note Irish officials, with his French and German counterparts.

Straw is seeking clarification of a constitution annex setting 'explanations' of the charter for interpretation by the courts at the national and EU level.

He repeated London’s insistence that the charter respected differing national legal systems, applied only to EU laws and created no new rights.

“[We must] satisfy ourselves that the greatest legal certainty that there can be that was what was discussed,” Straw said.

Unlike London, Paris is seeking to play up the EU constitution’s rights element to wrong foot the French Socialist opposition campaigning on the ticket of a ‘social Europe’.

Playing to the domestic political gallery French foreign minister Michel Barnier warned Straw that there could be no “constitution on the cheap”.

“I will not accept retreat on… the charter of the basic rights. I do not understand the motivations of those who want to move back,” he said.

In a characteristic outburst German foreign minister Joschka Fischer accused Straw of chopping up the constitution draft

“I'm not a lawyer but this sounds to me like salami-slicing,” he said. “We have already given you everything you want at every step of the way.”

Irish officials have expressed bemusement at a re-run row and denied any changes to draft documents.

“This has been around before, the text is to remain as it is, there is nothing new on the table,” he said.

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