'Hooligans' spoil Charter signing

Written by Andrew Duff MEP and published in East Anglian Daily Times on Sat 15th Dec 2007

The proclamation of the European Union's new Charter of Fundamental Rights (12 December) was supposed to be a solemn occasion. It took place, at the Parliament's suggestion, on the floor of the hemicycle in Strasbourg in front of a packed house. The Presidents of the three political institutions Parliament, Council and Commission lined up to speak and then sign the famous document which, when the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force, will have binding force.

But the solemnity of the occasion was overturned by a riot perpetrated by MEPs from the extremes of left and right. There were banners and much shouting. One prize goes to the entrepreneur who sold T-shirts saying 'REFERENDUM' to both the leftists and rightists. When the communists saw to their horror that they were wearing the same uniform as the neo-fascists, they shrunk to the floor.

The best performance, however, was from the Portuguese prime minister, José Socrates, who gave a stunning speech, to loud cheers and jeers, about the Charter. This was, he said, the most important political day of his life. The hooligan element in the chamber was proving the point of the Charter: that it is still necessary for Europeans to spell out the values and principles which shape our society, and to cherish them.

The following day we de-camped to Lisbon. Here, in a brilliantly choreographed ceremony in a 16th century monastery, 26 of the Union's leaders signed the new Treaty. The 27th, British prime minister Gordon Brown, turned up three hours late, signed the document, and then left abruptly. His excuse for his ill-manners was that he had had to meet a Commons committee. Everyone knew that was nonsense. Mr Brown's vacillation about whether to sign the Treaty or not has aggravated both pro and anti-Europeans in Britain as well as upsetting all his EU partners. This is especially so because the conference which negotiated the Treaty of Lisbon was mainly preoccupied in dealing with the British problem.

How the prime minister will now convince the UK Parliament that he believes in the new treaty is anyone's guess. The best way, quite simply, would be to tell the truth: that the Treaty of Lisbon is a good and durable basis on which the EU can make real progress in the world, armed with a reformed system of government that is at once more efficient and more democratic.