EN 
ELDR prime ministers committed to ratifying Lisbon Treatyeldr, Friday 14 December 2007 11:00 ::At the invitation of ELDR President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, four liberal prime ministers met for a working breakfast in the Brussels Egmont Palace. They discussed the status of Kosovo, the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the preparations for the next European elections.
The prime ministers attending the breakfast meeting included Denmark’s Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Romania’s Calin Popescu Tariceanu, Finland’s Matti Vanhanen and Estonia’s Andrus Ansip. Also attending were Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, Swedish Minister of European Affairs Cecilia Malmström and ALDE Group President Graham Watson.
Referring to their conclusions from the meeting, ELDR President Neyts-Uyttebroeck said that “we welcomed the signing of the Lisbon Treaty yesterday and expressed the hope that the treaty would be ratified (by all member states), preferably in late 2008 but at least by early 2009”. Danish Prime Minister Anders-Fogh Rasmussen said that Denmark “has decided to ratify the Lisbon Treaty through the parliamentary process and not to put it to a referendum. The treaty will be supported by a broad majority in the Danish parliament. We will present legislation at the beginning of next year and expect the parliament to ratify the treaty in early Spring”. He described the treaty as being “good for efficient decision-making in the EU” and providing “a much better framework for cooperation among the 27 member states than the current treaty”. Asked if he would stand as EU President, he said that he had just been re-elected as Denmark’s prime minister and intended to lead the government and fulfil promises he had made in the election campaign. Estonia's Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said that the Lisbon Treaty would create a “stronger and more effective EU” and hoped that the Estonian parliament would ratify the treaty in the first half of 2008. Romania’s Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu added that “Romania will be one of the first countries to ratify the treaty” and will do so through the parliament. Swedish Minister of European Affairs Cecilia Malmström commented that ratifying the treaty via the Swedish parliament will be “quite a long process” but highlighted its importance for environment, migration and foreign policy. On the Kosovo status talks process, Neyts-Uyttebroeck said that “we as liberal leaders in the EU affirm that we are united, want to stay united and want to see it run its full course”. |
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About usELDR is the party for liberal democrat values in Europe. Together with our liberal members parties across the European continent we are transplanting the principle of freedom into politics, economics and all other areas of our societies. The ELDR provides an increasingly vital link between citizens and the EU institutions and is continuously growing in size and significance. |
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