Secret negotiations heighten democracy's danger

The following is from the Brussels blog of Bruno Waterfield of the Telegraph, linked here. Because the Treaty of Lisbon is being rushed through in indecent haste (it was only signed last December) much of it must be implemented before ratification has taken place, a delicate issue. Plans to create entirely new organs of public authority are being carried out before, mostly via parliamentary ratification rather than referendums, the public has agreed to it. This problem is compounded by the excessive secrecy surrounding the necessary preparations, for institutions like the European External Action Service, that must thrashed out for the EU Treaty to be up and running for Jan 1 2009.