European Council

The European Council met for two days in Brussels and came up with... no solution to the Irish conundrum. Time was left (until October) to the Irish government to try to find one which would both respect the voters and prevent the total collapse of the treaty. Meanwhile the Czech government hinted that ratification might be impossible in their country, where there might not be a majority in Parliament in thses new circumstances. N. Sarkozy and A. Merkel insisted for that the treaty was not dead, and that further enlargement would be impossible without it. In other words, what a mess we are in.

The Irish Referendum

The Irish electorate rejected the Lisbon treaty by almost 54% yesterday, in spite of a quasi consensus of the political and economic elites in favour of its ratification. This follows the 2005 French and Dutch "noes" to the original constitutional treaty, though for different reasons. Once again, it seems that voters made a choice less on the content of the document than about their national leaders, the economic situation and expressing general fears about the future... But it is a sad paradox that a country which has benefited so much from EU membership turns against it. Less than one per cent of the total EU population has therefore put the whole process in disarray. EU leaders will meet soon in Luxemburg and Brussels to discuss what can be done now. One option would be to remove some parts of the treaty that the Irish electorate disapproved of (but which ones ?) and ask them to vote again, as in 2001, but that would require more negociations and agreement at 27 - not to mention the fact that it would give a bad image of European democracy, and might well backlash with a second "no" vote.
Meanwhile in the UK, Gordon Brown promised to complete the (parliamentary) ratification process, which has reached its final stage: all it needs now is a final vote in the Lords on 18 June and the royal assent. Eurosceptics of all kinds have nevertheless called for an interruption in the ratification process.

The 42-day detention without charge

Yesterday Gordon Brown scraped through his 42-day detention without charge project, when the House of Commons voted with a majority of only nine votes, corresponding to ç last minute votes from Ulster Unionists. Labour's majority of 66 was therefore wiped out in the biggest parliamentary rebellion since GB became Prime Minister. Still, he will have been relieved that after a lot of arm-twisting and concessions to Labour MPs he won the vote, as a defeat would probably have meant the end of his premiership. But his obstinacy on the subject will have done nothing to restore his authority in the party and the country at large. And the fight will go on in the House of Lords, where Labour has no majority and where strong opposition is expected. The Conservatives have also pledged to abolish the legislation if they get back to power. See the article in the Guardian.