For the past two years, the European Union has been struggling to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon, effectively a constitution for the EU which would create a new President, strengthen the powers of the European Parliament, and make the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding on its members. Today, it overcame its last hurdle, when Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed it. The Treaty will now enter into force in early December.
This means a stronger, more united Europe. It also means a lot of red faces in the UK Conservative Party, with Tory leader David Cameron forced to rescind his "cast-iron" pledge for a referendum on the treaty - something which would have entirely different consequences once the Treaty is in force. Instead, he's promising to "fight" Europe on social issues, with the threat of vetoing future enlargement (by Croatia and Iceland) if the UK is not granted special exemptions weakening the rights of its citizens. In other words, bluster a lot, but do nothing. Which is the UK's attitude to Europe in a nutshell...
