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Polish parties, president wrangle over EU Lisbon Treaty

18 March 2008, 18:08 CET

(WARSAW) - A law drafted by Poland's liberal government to ratify the EU's Lisbon Treaty was sent to parliamentary committee Tuesday, with a vote delayed amid wrangling with the opposition.

In a sign of the growing domestic spat in Poland over the European Union's reform treaty, President Lech Kaczynski Tuesday also submitted to parliament his own ratification bill which he has said is designed to better protect Poland's national interests.

"Not everything in the EU is good for Poland," the eurosceptic president said in a televised address Monday night.

Lech Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, threatened last week to torpedo the EU-wide Lisbon Treaty in parliament. Currently leader of the conservative opposition, he lost power to pro-EU liberal Donald Tusk in snap election last October.

The twins' party, Law and Justice, has stepped up opposition to Tusk's ratification plans, even though the brothers helped negotiate the accord last year and at the time trumpeted it as a success for Poland.

Lech Kaczynski insisted his proposal guarantees Poland's ability to invoke the so-called "British protocol" opt-out of the Lisbon Treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights and thus avoid European Court of Justice rulings on an array of issues.

He warned that the charter could let Germans sue Poles for properties lost after border changes following World War II, and allow homosexual marriage in Poland, a devoutly Catholic country.

The treaty must be ratified either by lawmakers or in a referendum before the president finally approves it.

Law and Justice's votes are needed for ratification as Tusk's government lacks the required two-thirds majority.

Tusk has suggested the Lisbon Treaty ratification may be put to a public referendum.

In a poll published Monday, 75 percent of respondents said they would vote in favour of the treaty if a referendum were held, seven percent said they would vote no and 18 percent had no opinion.

Signed by EU leaders in December, the treaty replaces the EU's defunct draft constitution, torpedoed by French and Dutch voters in referenda in 2005.

All 27 EU member states must individually ratify the treaty for it to come into effect, as planned, next year.

Last month France became the first EU heavyweight to approve it by parliamentary vote. Hungary, Malta, Romania and Slovenia have also done so, while Ireland is the only state planning a referendum.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.




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