Suspension in Europe
Description of Suspension
The Concise Encyclopedia of the European Union describes suspension in the following terms: [1] The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam introduced the provision that a member state found guilty of serious and persistent breach of fundamental principles of liberty could forfeit its Treaty rights, while still being held to all its obligations. The judge and jury would be the European Council. Doubtless the purpose was to reserve the power to suspend a member state (perhaps an ex-communist Eastern European country) that was accepted into the EU but subsequently relapsed into authoritarianism. There were, however, overtones of authoritarianism in the provision itself.
In similar vein, the European Parliament proposed in 2000 that transnational political parties which ‘do not respect fundamental rights’ should be open to suspension. But in the eyes of a federalising zealot it might be a short step from Euroscepticism to ‘xenophobia’ and suspension.
Resources
Notas y References
- Based on the book “A Concise Encyclopedia of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein”, by Rodney Leach (Profile Books; London)