French President, Jacques Chirac gives a declaration on the European Council in Nice to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Later this week the Parliament is going to vote on the outcome of the summit and a rejection of the Nice Treaty is possible, reports the Financial Times.
The threat of rejection in the European parliament came from German Christian Democrat Elmar Brok, one of two senior members of the European Parliament represented at the intergovernmental conference that drafted the Nice treaty.
The treaty-deal was condemned as a “clumsy” compromise that could render decision-making even more difficult in an enlarged union. Also Romano Prodi, the European commission president, expressed disappointment over the document.
If the European Parliament refuses to approve the treaty, it could be blocked entirely because both the Belgian and Italian parliaments have said they will refuse to ratify the document unless it is also approved by the MEPs. The Treaty must be ratified in all European Unions member states to come into force.
From the EU critical side some MEP’s can also be expected to join forces with the Europhiles and vote against the Treaty proposal. They think the Treaty compromise in Nice goes to far and erodes national democracies without really helping the Central and Eastern European countries.