German court halts ratification of Lisbon Treaty

The EU’s Lisbon Treaty may not be ratified in Germany until legislation has been put in place to safeguard national parliamentary powers, the country’s top court ruled on Tuesday.

In a keenly-awaited decision, the Federal Constitutional Court said the document “may not be adopted until the sufficient legal groundwork for parliamentary participation as foreseen in the constitution has been laid.”

“If one wanted to summarise this result, one could say: the constitution says ‘yes’ to the Lisbon Treaty but demands that parliament’s right to participation be strengthened at the national level,” the court said.

“The court is confident that the last barrier for adopting the ratification document will be cleared.”

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