EU leaders admit Lisbon is unnecessary

Following an interview with the Swedish Secretary of State for Europe, Maria Asenius, a headline on EurActiv(German) reads: “EU can function without Lisbon Treaty” (including quote marks).

It reports that several "leading EU politicians digress from the thesis that the Lisbon Treaty is necessary for the effective functioning of the enlarged EU. The new message is that, without the Lisbon Treaty, the EU would be as capable of acting as hitherto."

Maria Asenius is quoted saying, "We cannot wait forever for a decision on this issue. We need a new Commission to continue EU businesses. With or without the Lisbon Treaty. We've got no choice."

This comes hot on the heels of Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt's admission that the Lisbon Treaty is not necessary in order for Ireland to keep its EU Commissioner, as claimed by the Irish government and the 'yes' campaign.

This kind of honesty - that the EU will continue to function as normal without Lisbon, and that it isn't, in fact, important enough to warrant the sacrifice of so much democracy - is most welcome at this stage in the debate.