British High Court: EU referendum an "arguable case"

A millionaire businessman and major donor for the Conservative party is challenging British PM Gordon Brown for not giving the UK the possibility to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Stuart Wheeler, 73, won on May 2 his battle to challenge the government's decision after it had promised a referendum on the EU constitution.

He claimed that there was no material difference between the late constitution and the reformed treaty and therefore the government should keep its promise to hold a referendum.

He said in his website:"The Labour Party, as well as the other two main parties, made an unambiguous promise that they would call one. They should keep that promise. The Treaty is immensely important and so, irrespective of whether people think it should be ratified or not, they should be allowed a vote on it."

In his judgement at the High Court Mr Justice Owen decided that permission to apply for judicial review should be granted because the case is "arguable". The hearing will take place on 9 and 10 June.

Since last December, the Labour government insisted that the Lisbon Treaty is not the same as the Constitutional Treaty. In the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website (FCO), it stated that "EU’s 27 leaders have agreed that the constitutional concept has been abandoned."

It said: "There are substantial differences between the two Treaties, in form and in content. The Constitutional Treaty would have replaced all the existing Treaties and effectively re-founded the EU. The Lisbon Treaty takes the same approach as all previous amending Treaties. It amends the existing Treaties which Parliament has ratified and will not have constitutional characteristics."

Italy's President: ratification is a "priority"

Giorgio Napolitano, the President of the Italian Republic, said on April 29-30 he expected a quick ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the new Italian government, which will be sworn in next week, after the centre-right coalition won April elections.

Speaking in Graz, Austria, at an informal meeting with EU heads of States, Mr Napolitano said: “I'm sure the new government will have as a priority the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.”

Newly-elected prime minister Silvio Berlusconi defeated his left-wing rival Walter Veltroni after early elections were called, following the unexpected collapse of his predecessor's leftist government, led by Romano Prodi who was President of the previous EU commission.

Mr Napolitano is known for being strongly Euro-enthusiast: he was an MEP in the 1990's and his speeches about the EU have always been very European-oriented.

Last year, Mr Napolitano said in a conference: "When I was an MEP, I had the opportunity to know how the EU parliament in Strasbourg works, and how important its role is in the developement of a stronger union between citizens, institutions and European peoples. This union protects the common values of dignity, equality, solidarity and justice."