Lisbon Treaty to be altered?

Remember the Lisbon Treaty; that was the relatively short pact between the 27 member nations of the EU that allowed for a position of a full time EU president to be created that into power Ex Belgium Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy to act as a puppet, figurine type of president only.

It now seems the tables may have turned and what they may have unleashed instead may have been the Beast of Revelation as the Lisbon treaty is altered time and time again giving more and more powers over to the EU Commission and Van Rompuy as they contest each other, or join together, for control of the EU.

Accordingly, are we seeing in EU president Herman Van Rompuy and EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barrasso the Antichrist and the False Prophet consecutively?

So much for the end point of European integration. The European Central Bank has added its voice to calls for the Lisbon Treaty to be altered to allow for increased "economic government" - most likely, involving the European Commission "punishing" nations who don't fall into line with spending directives.

EU Actif reports that the ECB submitted a report to Herman van Rompuy's council of finance ministers, recommending that "an EU country would have to prove to its neighbours that it does not deserve to be punished for exceeding the EU's debt targets."

The burden of proof would lie with the accused nation, which would then have to muster a majority of countries willing to support it. Clearly the process would be open to abuse, with countries forming allegiances or exercising influence in other unrelated areas to secure a "qualified majority" to avoid punishment. Smaller countries with less influence, such as Greece, would be more likely to feel the EU's wrath than other high-debt nations with beaucoup de clout, such as France.

EU Actif, which is largely uncritical of EU affairs, notes that the proposals amount to a "power grab" for the European Commission (which is itself in a struggle for superiority with van Rompuy's gang of finance ministers and the European Parliament).

It would more than likely mean that the Lisbon Treaty is changed to accommodate this new economic government. While EUrophiles claim that Lisbon represents the high watermark of European federalism, EURSOC has warned that the treaty's self-amending nature means that its corrosive effect on the democratic institutions of European nations will only become apparent over time. Changing its wording to allow for the "punishment" of European nations who can't abide by deficit rules goes even further, however, and demonstrates the contempt in which Eurocrats hold even their own rulebook.

British sceptics saw an opportunity for David Cameron to call a British referendum on Lisbon, given that an altered treaty would not be the same one we signed up for. Cameron has indicated that he would be happy to allow the EU to rewrite Lisbon for Eurozone states, provided Britain was left out of any economic government; we shall see.

It is unlikely any prospective European government would stop at the exercise of sanctions. Even as plans are being laid for these new EU powers, the European Commission is extending its reach into other areas. Yesterday it revealed suggestions to "take politics out of European pensions" by introducing laws to ensure retirement age rose in accordance with rising life expectancy.

It doesn't propose an EU-wide "retirement age", but rather a system in which nations would agree to automatic incremental rises in the age of retirement, with another international body ensuring that governments were able to meet their pension obligations.
This is quite possibly a sensible option, particularly if Eurozone nations will be sharing financial obligations as seems likely. The Germans famously don't want to retire at 69 to allow the Greeks to leave work at 50. However, it is likely to be resisted strongly in the Eurozone's southern nations, where low retirement ages are seen as a human right.

France faces severe street protests this autumn following the government's plan to slowly raise the retirement age; similar protests could spread across Italy and Spain. And as for the Northern Europeans, who retire much later but are likely to pay for it all - perhaps they'll riot too as their contributions and retirement ages are raised to pay for the sweet life in the South.

I predict Lisbon will be rewritten again, and again. It is increasingly evident that the future for the Eurozone is either total integration, or a split.