MEPs welcome EU treaty deal as victory for parliament

European parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering has welcomed the new EU treaty deal struck by EU leaders in Lisbon.

Pöttering said the agreement, secured in the small hours of Friday morning, was a “great success for the European parliament”.

The German deputy added that the new treaty deal, which will increase the legislative powers of the parliament and elevate the assembly’s political status with member state governments, was a win for European citizens and good for the EU’s institutions.

“We now have co-decision with the council on virtually 100 per cent of European legislation. This is a victory for democracy and for European citizens.”

The new treaty will be signed by EU leaders in December and ratified by member states in time for the next European parliament elections in 2009.

However Pöttering and ALDE MEP Andrew Duff, a member of parliament’s IGC treaty team, said they were disappointed with the UK’s insistence in securing a range of opt-outs.

“Of course we would have liked that there were no British opt-outs.  For the UK, the treaty is in many ways different, even totally different, to the others,” said Pöttering.

Duff warned that the UK opt-outs would prove to be both counter-productive and futile in the long run “given the imperative for the EU to act coherently in fields such as justice and home affairs and foreign policy.”

“I am confident that Britain, in the end, will see it has nothing to fear from democratically formulated and judicially supervised policies working in the common interest,” he added.

But the British MEP said that, “everyone can walk away from this summit feeling satisfied that they have reached a good result, and I salute those member states that showed a readiness to compromise in pursuit of this common goal.”

“A particular credit must go to the Portuguese presidency who have steered the negotiations with precision and professionalism.”

Both Pöttering and Duff said they were content with the deal on the charter of fundamental rights, which will see the document achieve legal status, even though it will be published separately from the new treaty.

The charter will be proclaimed by the presidents of the three EU institutions on December 12 at the European parliament’s Strasbourg plenary, a day ahead of the signing ceremony for the new treaty in Lisbon.

“I am delighted that the charter of fundamental rights will now acquire legal status. The charter will be solemnly proclaimed by the presidents of the three institutions,” said Pöttering.

Duff said the Strasbourg proclamation would give the charter a “greater profile and standing than it would have if it were squashed inside the treaties.”

Commenting on what he called a “creative solution” to Italian demands for an extra parliament seat, ALDE group leader Graham Watson said, “to have satisfied the Italians by pretending to take away the vote of the president of the European parliament seems to be a case of comedy turning into farce.”

“But if it serves to build the necessary consensus on the new treaty then I can live with it,” he added.

However UKIP leader in the parliament, Nigel Farage attacked Friday’s agreement as, “just about the biggest deception I’ve ever seen in politics.”

The Eurosceptic MEP said the new treaty was “basically the same document” as the ill-fated EU constitution.

“The treaty is virtually identical to the constitution, although in some ways it is actually worse…They have maintained the substance but changed the packaging.”

The new treaty will be signed by EU leaders in December and ratified by member states in time for the next European parliament elections in 2009.

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