The solution adopted in the Lisbon Treaty text for avoiding accusations that it was simply the EU Constitution reborn was, in essence, to remove all occurrences of the word ‘constitution’ from the text.
However, the Lisbon Treaty will be, if adopted, the legal framework for an EU federal superstate, with its own arms industry, its own military capacities, and a guaranteed defence fund in the form of a required contribution to the EU military budget on the part of all EU members.
1. The EU Court of Justice’s decisions will be final and binding on all member states, regardless of the opinion of national supreme courts.
2. The European Defence Agency is incorporated in the Treaty as the arms procurer for the EU. The EU will not require a UN mandate for military action against another country. Member states must improve their military capacity for participating in the EU Army, and must spend at least 5% of their national budget for this purpose.
3. Ireland, as pointed out above, cannot claim that the Irish Constitution precludes participation in military action, simply because a Yes vote in the Lisbon Referendum gives the Treaty priority over the Irish Constitution in every area covered in the Treaty, including war. Military neutrality, in other words, cannot be written into the Constitution, because Ireland will obliged to cooperate in “common defence” matters.
3. The EU is created as a legal entity. In other words, it is, for the first time, created as a state with laws binding on all its members.
4. The Treaty creates the office of EU High Representative. The High Representative will have the same legal standing as the ambassador of a nation state. The EU High Representative will have the power to negotiate and sign treaties on foreign and security policy issues with other states and other international organisations, such as NATO. These treaties will be binding on all EU members, regardless of the EU members’ own laws.
5. In summary, Lisbon mandates the creation of the EU as a legal personality, a super-national state. The EU will possess the power to wage war without consulting any EU citizen or national parliament, using EU taxpayer money to fund military actions and EU citizens to fight in them. The EU will have the power to conclude international treaties, including military pacts, which will be binding on all members.
Filed under: lisbon treaty | Tagged: EU, eu army, NATO, neutrality
