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Thu 05 May 2009Spain seeks agreement on protocol to add 18 more MEPs
SPAIN IS pressing its EU partners to agree a new protocol to the Lisbon Treaty to alter the number of sitting MEPs if the treaty finally enters into force.
Madrid wants all 27 EU leaders to sign up to the protocol at next month’s European summit and then ratify it in national parliaments if Ireland votes Yes in an autumn referendum. This controversial legal manoeuvre could enable Ireland to get its own guarantees on Lisbon enshrined in the EU treaties earlier than anticipated by the Government. But it could also complicate negotiations at the EU summit in Brussels.
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