Lisbon Treaty (EU) up for full ratification

[WBU ALUM]

Can any of you Brits on the forum explain the pros and cons of this?

I found this video posted by a Brit on a web forum and was wondering what feelings, if any, the Brit forum members have about this vote.

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[westerby]

Our European and local elections are coming up on 4th June and UKIP is campaigning against the aforementioned treaty as it believes it's a modified European Constitution coming in through the back door. For me, it's a classic case of Eurocrats trying to force an agenda on European people that have voted against the notion of a EU Constitution. Holland, France and Ireland have all come out against this in referendums. I'm waiting to hear someone say that Ireland voted against something different but it's really all the same. It's also, apparently, unreadable due to the scale of amendments carried over from the previous treaty. So what is Europe really signing up to?

[Irish Alan]

Not to worry we'll have another referendum or 3 until it is accepted...

BBC NEWS

Ireland rejects EU reform treaty

Voters in the Irish Republic have rejected the European Union's Lisbon treaty in a vote by 53.4% to 46.6%.

The poll is a major blow to leaders in the 27-nation EU, which requires all its members to ratify the treaty. Only Ireland has held a public vote.

The European Commission says nations should continue to ratify the treaty, designed to streamline decision-making.

Irish PM Brian Cowen said he respected the vote but it had caused a "difficult situation" that had "no quick fix".

Leaders of the No campaign said the vote was a "great result for Ireland".

An earlier, more wide-ranging EU draft constitution failed after French and Dutch voters rejected it in 2005.

'Uncharted territory'

The Irish No campaign won by 862,415 votes to 752,451. Turnout was 53.1%.

Mr Cowen said: "The government accepts and respects the verdict of the Irish people."

He said he would work with other EU leaders to try to find an "agreed way forward" but that the bloc was in "uncharted territory".

“ At the end of the day, for a myriad of reasons, the people have spoken ”
Dermot Ahern, Justice Minister

"Ireland has no wish to halt the progress" of the EU, he said.

A referendum was mandatory in Ireland as the country would need to change its constitution to accommodate the treaty.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he had spoken to Mr Cowen and agreed with him that this was not a vote against the EU.

"Ireland remains committed to a strong Europe," he said.

"Ratifications should continue to take their course."

France and Germany quickly issued a joint statement expressing regret over the Irish result.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the UK would press on with ratification, saying: "It's right that we continue with our own process."

Spain has said a solution will be found but Czech President Vaclav Klaus said ratification could not now continue.

Mr Barroso said EU leaders would have to decide at a summit next week how to proceed.

He called for the EU to continue focusing on issues of interest to people like jobs and inflation, energy security and climate change.

“ This is democracy in action... and Europe needs to listen to the voice of the people ”
Declan Ganley, Libertas

But BBC Europe editor, Mark Mardell, says this is a multiple crisis for the EU - a crisis of rule change, of legitimacy and of morale.

In the end, he says, the Lisbon treaty could be declared dead: some parts of it would be implemented without a treaty, others abandoned, others put in a new treaty when Croatia joins the EU in a couple of years time.

Declan Ganley of the anti-treaty lobby group Libertas said: "It is a great day for Irish democracy."

He added: "This is democracy in action... and Europe needs to listen to the voice of the people."

The No campaign was a broad coalition ranging from Libertas to Sinn Fein, the only party in parliament to oppose the treaty.

Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, said: "People feel secure at the heart of Europe, but they want to ensure there's maximum democratic power."

Confusion

Correspondents say many voters did not understand the treaty despite a high-profile campaign led by Mr Cowen, which had the support of most of the country's main parties.

Mr Cowen accused the No camp of "misrepresentation", saying voters had voiced concern about "issues that clearly weren't in the treaty at all", the Irish Times reported.

The treaty, which is designed to help the EU cope with its expansion into eastern Europe, provides for a streamlining of the European Commission, the removal of the national veto in more policy areas, a new president of the European Council and a strengthened foreign affairs post.

The treaty was due to come into force on 1 January 2009.

Fourteen countries out of the 27 have completed ratification so far.

Just over three million Irish voters are registered - in a European Union of 490 million people.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/e ... 453560.stm

Published: 2008/06/13 22:58:09 GMT

© BBC MMIX

[westerby]

At least it's in your Irish constitution to vote on something as important as this, the spineless Labour Government in UK said there was no need for a referendum and quietly complied with the Eurocrats.

[Irish Alan]

At least it's in your Irish constitution to vote on something as important as this, the spineless Labour Government in UK said there was no need for a referendum and quietly complied with the Eurocrats.

Yes my son luckily this kind of thing must go to the people. An irony that if there were a referendum on ANYTHING tomorrow that the government asks for a yes vote then just by way of protest the country would vote NO! We have just had a very unpopular mini-budget and a pension levy that affects me. Whatever they ask of me I'll be a spoilt child and do the f**individual opposite.

[jackspratt]

There was a previous attempt to introduce an EU Constitution. However, it needed to be accepted unanimously by all the countries in the EU before it could come into force. Several rejected it, and so it was back to square 1 for the Eurocrats in Brussels.

What they came up with was a Treaty, which incorporated many of the clauses found in the rejected constitution. Being a treaty, it only required ratification from the Parliaments of the various countries - except Ireland, where it was again put to the people (I am not sure whether the Irish Constitution requires this, or the government had promised that it would allow the people to decide).

As stated about, it was rejected by the Irish voters, upon which Ireland became a bit of a pariah in the eyes of many other EU countries, and from memory, many dark threats were uttered

[mak]

Pactio Olisipiensis censenda est.