Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The judgment referred to was delivered only yesterday and it will take time to have it analysed. Under the reform treaty, we have the capability of opting in and it is our desire to do so as often as possible. From an initial analysis of the judgment, the reform treaty may well strengthen our position in terms of our ability to opt in.

We would only be excluded at the behest of all the other member states and it would be highly unusual for states to gang up on Ireland or the United Kingdom. While the judgment needs to be examined, the Government's initial view is that it is yet another reason to vote in favour of the reform treaty as it copperfastens our discretion on whether we participate. We decided it was preferable to be able to opt in or out of measures as we saw fit due to the significant differences between the common law judicial system operating in criminal law in Ireland and the UK and the continental system which operates in most other member states.

The Deputy is correct that national parliaments will have significant additional input as they must receive EU proposals at the same time as such proposals are circulated to member state governments. This will provide them with an opportunity to have sight of proposals at a much earlier date than heretofore and will allow them to exert greater influence in terms of the type of opinions they will be able to give on specific proposals made by the European Commission.

The yellow card procedure is an important new dimension in that it gives national parliaments a greater opportunity to offer strong views on proposals. The democratic landscape has shifted dramatically. The President of the European Parliament is on record as stating that the competence of national parliaments and the European Parliament, which was virtually nil when he was first elected many years ago, has significantly improved. The reform treaty gives national parliaments much greater input in terms of giving their views on Commission proposals.

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