Germany Considers Putting Brakes on EU Power
Last Tuesday, the judges at Germany’s highest court learned just how difficult it is to have the last word in Europe. The Federal Constitutional Court in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe had hardly begun its hearing on the Lisbon Treaty when a higher power — the European Court of Justice — intervened. The Luxembourg-based rival court’s demonstration that there are no limits to the Eurocrats’ claim to power — was spread by whispers through the German courtroom.
The European judges had just given their blessing to the enactment of an EU guideline. It relates to new data storage rules, which now require that telecommunications companies throughout Europe keep telephone and Internet usage data on file for six months to make it available for criminal prosecutions. The question was: Does such a far-reaching measure need to be approved by all member states for it to come into effect?
The answer from Luxembourg was no. The court’s reasoning seemed bizarre. The judges argued that the issue of data storage is less pertinent to fighting terrorism than to the European single market. And a simple majority — rather than the unanimous vote which would have been required if the measure had fallen under the EU’s crime and judicial affairs pillar — is sufficient to rule on questions relating to the single market.
It’s a cunning line of argumentation which effectively allows the court to intervene in many different political spheres within member countries.
Source:
Germany Considers Putting Brakes on EU Power
spiegel.de
