Seanad debates

Tuesday, 4 March 2003

Convention on the Future of Europe: Statements.

 

Senator Dardis also mentioned the attachment of the charter to the treaty. The appropriate place to put the charter is in a protocol. There are 54 articles, four of which have horizontal provisions. It would become very cumbersome if it was incorporated in the first part of the treaty. The majority view is that it should be in part 2. I think it appropriate that it be included in a protocol. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has the clearest view of any of his counterparts in Europe. He has pointed out that if one is going to bring forward the charter, the horizontal provisions and the commentary as to how judges should interpret it, it cannot be included in the treaty. The charter will only apply in a restricted position, that is, to European institutions and the member states fulfilling their responsibilities. That is the clearest exposition of where it should be placed. I am arguing for this, not that we are hostile in any way to the charter but on the basis that we want to make sure that when it comes in, there will not be a clash between the competence of the Union on issues relating to fundamental rights and the Constitution, which is superior. The title, constitutional treaty, is used to retain the institutional balance. That is exactly the argument we are making. We want to retain the institutional balance.

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