Top MEP condemns elements of EU treaty

Influential MEP Jo Leinen has joined a growing chorus of criticism over the EU reform treaty hammered out at last week’s summit.

Speaking at a news conference in parliament today, the German MEP made several criticisms, including new arrangements for EU voting rights and the decision to drop EU symbols from the revamped treaty.

He expects the assembly to endorse his criticisms when it adopts its own opinion on the document, probably during the July plenary in Strasbourg.

Leinen, who chairs parliament's constitutional committee, described the decision to delay the EU’s new voting procedures until 2017 as “unfortunate".

He was particularly critical of those countries successful in securing their "red lines" during the protracted talks.

"If we are going to continue allowing member states to have their red lines then that is going to signal the end of the European spirit," he said.

Leinen also denounced the decision to drop the name "constitution", saying this represented a "loss of vision" from the reform treaty.

And he warned that a "two-speed" Europe could emerge, with countries like France and Germany in the vanguard of the EU’s future.

Despite his reservations, Leinen, a socialist, welcomed some aspects of the deal and stressed that it was important for parliament to safeguard "what the summit has promised".

Meanwhile Neil O’Brien, the director of Uk think tank Open Europe, branded the treaty as "the old EU constitution in everything but name".

"The mandate for the negotiations even states simply that the ‘amendments as agreed in the 2004 IGC will be inserted into the treaty’," he said.

"This will fool no-one," he added. "This is the same EU constitution under a different name and the governments must keep their promise to hold referendums."

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