Ireland holds vote today that could determine EU's future

The solution here seems to be to inform the masses and explain the goal or options rather than authoritarian decisions by an elite...

georgeob1 wrote:

Odd isn't it that some Europeans who are long accustomed to vociferously criticizing the United States, are so sensitive to even the gentlest comment on their affairs by an American.

May I solicit your gentleness to explicitly name those vociferous critics of the United States?

EU grapples with Irish 'No' vote

Irish voters give their reasons for voting No or Yes for the Lisbon treaty




Governments in the European Union are exploring what to do after the Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty to reform the expanded EU.

France and Germany have described the "No" vote as a serious blow but urged the EU to press ahead with the project.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said ratifications must carry on so that the Irish vote did not "become a crisis".

But Czech President Vaclav Klaus said the treaty was finished, since any further ratification was impossible.

His is a lone voice among EU leaders, but his views will probably resonate with many European voters who did not get a say in a referendum, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels.

The third failed referendum on an EU treaty in three years can only be seen as a serious blow to the EU's credibility at home and abroad, our correspondent adds.

'Take their course'

Voters in the Irish Republic rejected the Lisbon treaty in a vote by 53.4% to 46.6%.

At the end of the day, for a myriad of reasons, the people have spoken .

The 27-nation EU requires all its members to ratify the treaty but only Ireland has held a public vote.

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

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

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that Ireland remained "committed to a strong Europe".

"Ratifications should continue to take their course," he added.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the UK would press on with its ratification.

Lisbon is supposed to replace the European constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters three years ago.

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.

It is due to come into force on 1 January, 2009.

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

Long weekend

European governments will spend the weekend trying to chart a way forward for the EU, the BBC's Jonny Dymond reports from Dublin.


EU leaders appear to be in for a weekend of deep reflection

Ireland has thrown a spanner deep into the EU's machinery and Europe's leaders have just a few days before they meet for their summer summit in Brussels, to come up with some credible ideas as to how to move forward.

The most obvious course of action might be to tinker with Treaty and then ask Ireland to vote again.

But Thursday's "No" vote was more than the usual anti-European suspects, our correspondent says.

The No campaign successfully increased its vote in the Irish Republic and asking a population to vote again is a trick you can only pull so many times.

The weekend will be a period of deep reflection for many governments across the EU, our correspondent says

Irish PM blamed for EU treaty defeat amid talk of second poll by Katherine Haddon
Sat Jun 14, 6:37 AM ET



DUBLIN (AFP) - Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen woke up to a barrage of criticism Saturday over Ireland's shock rejection of a key European Union treaty, as the bloc's other leaders vowed to press ahead despite the "no" vote.


The referendum vote against the Lisbon Treaty has pitched the whole 27-nation EU into deep turmoil because the document, which aims to make EU decision-making easier, has to be approved by all member states.

Ireland voted "no" by 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent, a much wider margin than had been expected after opinion polls put the two sides too close to call.

But European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso insists the Lisbon Treaty is still "alive" and has urged other countries to continue ratifying it, as 18 have already done.

Attention in Ireland has now turned to whether it will have to hold another referendum to put it back on track -- as it did when it rejected a previous EU treaty in 2001 and the result was reversed the following year.

Cowen told national broadcaster RTE Friday on a second referendum: "I'm not ruling anything in or out or up or down."

But others within his government expressed concern on the risks of another poll after such a resounding defeat for the "yes" camp.

"I can't see a situation where we can put this matter again, to be quite honest with you, because the risk to Europe and indeed to Ireland... is to cause even more damage," Integration Minister Conor Lenihan told RTE.

"It's not comparable to the previous situation with regards to the (2001) Nice referendum."

First time round, ministers explained the need for a second referendum by saying the 35 percent turnout was too low. That argument would struggle to wash this time, with turnout at 53 percent, much higher than expected.

Declan Ganley, the businessman who founded major opposition group Libertas, told AFP he would not be opposed to a second referendum but said: "It's got to be on a meaningful deal and address the real problem."

Cowen heads to Brussels next week for his first EU summit and is likely to face an uncomfortable reception -- Barroso has already called on him to explain how the concerns raised by Irish voters in the campaign can be addressed.

The Lisbon Treaty, signed last December in Portugal, would notably give the EU a semi-permanent president, while streamlining the executive Commission and reforming voting rights among bigger and smaller EU countries.

"At home, most newspapers placed the blame for the defeat squarely at the door of Cowen and his ruling centre-right Fianna Fail party, who they said had run an ineffectual campaign.

Cowen took over only a month ago from Bertie Ahern, who stepped down with a tribunal probing corruption allegations against him, and commentators said there had been too little time for him to put the "yes" case to voters.

"The blame lies where it should be held to lie, at the top. At the top, and a very uncomfortable top it is today, stands Brian Cowen," columnist James Downey wrote in the Irish Independent.

"He has failed his first big test as Taoiseach," or prime minister.

Many papers also said Cowen deserved censure for admitting he had not read the treaty cover-to-cover.

An Irish Times opinion poll last week which gave the "no" camp a five point lead also said that 30 percent of opponents of the treaty were against it because they did not understand it.
The Irish Daily Mirror said Cowen "took the electorate for granted" and didn't bother launching his yes campaign until three weeks before the crucial vote, while the Irish Daily Star tabloid was more succinct -- "Biffed" was its headline, a reference to Cowen's nickname "Biffo".

Cowen's position as Taoiseach seems unlikely to be threatened by the result because all bar one of the main political parties also supported the treaty. Ahern survived after the first Nice defeat in 2001.

EU heavyweights France and Germany have said they regret Friday's result, while Slovenia, which currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, said the treaty remained a key European building block but that Ireland's rejection had "put the brakes on" EU development.

Britain -- traditionally lukewarm on Europe but still a big player -- vowed to continue the ratification process through parliament, despite calls from the country's Eurosceptic press to hold a referendum.

What now for Europe? The EU's Irish problem

Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty raises fears of a constitutional crisis - and could lead to a two-tier union of nations

By David McKittrick and Jane Merrick
Sunday, 15 June 2008


The Irish Republic woke up yesterday with a severe collective political hangover, in the wake of the voters' rejection of the EU's Lisbon Treaty. Neither Dublin nor Europe as a whole appears to have a clear idea of how to proceed, following the referendum result which has changed the European landscape.


With France about to take up the European presidency, the dominant item on the agenda is how to prevent the Lisbon impasse developing into a full-blown crisis after Ireland voted 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent against the treaty.

Most of the EU's 27 countries have already ratified the Lisbon Treaty, and opinion in London, Paris, Brussels and elsewhere clearly favours continuing with this process. But even as the ratifications continue, the EU and Dublin will have to work out how to cope with the problem posed by the Irish rejection.

Downing Street made clear yesterday that it would press ahead with ratifying the treaty in Parliament, with the Lords to vote for the final time on Wednesday before it reaches the statute books.

The Minister for Europe, Jim Murphy, said it was now up to the Dublin government to find a way forward. He insisted that the vote in Ireland did not mean the treaty was dead. "Only those who previously wished to dance on the grave of this treaty, even before the Irish referendum, are declaring it dead," he told Radio 4's Today programme.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The position is that each country has its own process for ratification ... It is not for us to tell the Irish what to do."

With no appetite for any wholesale renegotiation of the treaty, as was advocated by anti-Lisbon campaigners during the referendum, one alternative is to stage a rerun of the campaign. Ireland's Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, will face pressure for this when he attends a summit in Brussels this week. It is likely to prove a highly uncomfortable occasion for Mr Cowen, who took office just a few weeks ago. The referendum result is a significant early setback for him, seen in Dublin as a humiliation undermining his authority.

He campaigned vigorously for the treaty, but is thought to have made a personal blunder when he admitted that he had not read the lengthy treaty document from cover to cover.

Mr Cowen will probably be reluctant to contemplate a repeat of the referendum, although this was done some years ago when the Irish electorate first rejected a previous treaty but later accepted it.

Speaking on Irish television, Mr Cowen did not absolutely rule out a rerun. But yesterday Conor Lenihan, minister of state with responsibility for integration, described another referendum as unlikely, declaring: "It would create a double risk of creating even more damage.''

Referendum campaigns in Ireland are highly unpredictable and subject to personality factors and sudden swings. But in addition, there is a distinct disconnect between Irish voters and the current EU; and it is clear voters have many reservations, both on specific issues and on the general trend. In addition, there is a further disconnect between voters and the major Irish political parties, all of whom campaigned for a "Yes" vote.

The "No" sentiment is clearly running strongly in Ireland, and a second contest would be highly likely to produce yet another negative outcome - which would be even more unwelcome for Europe than the present situation and such a reverse for the authorities that the Irish government might well fall. This would clearly be an exercise for the very highest of stakes.

But the alternative could be severely damaging for Ireland as a nation, since it could involve major powers such as France and Germany in effect demoting the country's treasured status in Europe. This option would involve the creation of a two-tier EU, with Ireland becoming a marginalised and semi-detached member of the union.

Both courses, at their starkest, amount to almost doomsday scenarios for Ireland. The European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, has declared: "I believe we should now try to find a solution."

Q&A

So how did the Irish, model Europeans, come to reject the Lisbon Treaty?

There has always been an anti-European minority in the Irish Republic, though the big parties are all fervently in favour. But the days of huge amounts of money coming from Europe to transform the country from poverty to prosperity are over. And the Irish trust their politicians much less these days.

Haven't the Irish done well out of Europe?

Certainly. It's reckoned they've benefited to the tune of more than €30bn (£25bn) since the 1970s. Ireland has been given a place on the world stage and allowed to emerge from the UK's economic shadow.

So are the Irish now anti-Europe?

Not at all. Almost all the prominent "No" campaigners, however strongly they were against Lisbon, described themselves as pro-European. But Brussels has come to seem more remote, and the Lisbon Treaty had - or was said to have - profound implications for some issues that are particularly neuralgic for the Irish.

Such as?

Abortion, Irish neutrality and possible conscription to a future European army, for example. The "No" campaigners were accused of scaremongering about these. Added to these specific issues was an underlying apprehension that Lisbon would reduce Irish influence in the EU.

Was the result a surprise?

Yes. Almost everyone thought the outcome would be closer. Most believed the "Yes" camp would scrape home. Instead, the Irish establishment has been left shocked by the result and remains flummoxed that its advice to voters was rejected.

So what happens next?

Nobody knows. Many European governments are seriously annoyed by the Irish failure to deliver on Lisbon. Some in Europe will call for a rerun of the referendum, while others favour bypassing the Irish and reducing their European influence. Months of debate and bargaining lie ahead.

Irish anger at EU plans to press on with Lisbon Treaty despite No vote
by Tom Peterkin, in Dublin
Last Updated: 4:10PM BST 14/06/2008
Anger mounted against Brian Cowen, Ireland's Prime Minister, as it became clear other European leaders were prepared to ignore the wishes of the Irish people and go-ahead with the Lisbon Treaty.
On Dublin's O'Connell Street, there was fury that Europe appeared to be prepared to press ahead. "I voted No and they can't go ahead, because there is no agreement in Ireland," said Michael Larkin.

The man who led the successful No Campaign that resulted in 53.4 per cent of the electorate rejecting the Treaty has not ruled out running in next year's European elections.

Declan Ganley, the Libertas leader, said: "I'm not a politician but if our voice was not heard and ignored, then would I as an active citizen do whatever I could to ensure that our voice was heard in my own small way?


"I would most certainly want to do something about that."

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein MEP for Dublin, said: "Yesterday the Irish people gave the government a clear and strong mandate to renegotiate the Lisbon Treaty.

"At his first European Council meeting as Taoiseach next week Brian Cowen should set out in clear and unambiguous terms the concerns raised by the Irish people and the need for these concerns to be properly addressed."

Despite Ireland's decisive rejection of the pact, there remained confusion over whether a second referendum would be imposed on the electorate in an attempt to overturn the decision.

Conor Lenihan, the Minister for Integration, said that although he did not envisage another poll, he did not rule one out.

His remarks did little to clear up the issue following Mr Cowen's failure to give a definitive answer when questioned hours after the referendum result was announced.

Mr Cowen said he was not prepared to "even surmise on any of that", adding: "I'm not ruling anything in or out or up or down."

The newly-installed Taoiseach woke up to a salvo of damaging headlines, reminding him that he had failed his first major test since he took over from Bertie Ahern.

At the European Council's leaders' summit next week, he will have the embarrassing task of explaining to his colleagues why he failed to sell the Treaty to his people.

"No" campaigners have urged him to declare the Treaty dead when he goes to Brussels.

The disastrous start to his premiership has been compared with that of Gordon Brown, another Prime Minister who took over from a smooth operator and was ushered into office on a wave of goodwill.

In some quarters, his nickname of Biffo, which in its most polite form stands for big ignorant fellow from Offaly, is being challenged by another one - Gordon Cowen.

Ireland has been subjected to two referenda before, so there is a precedent. In 2001, the Irish rejected the Nice Treaty when only 34 per cent of the electorate turned out. The decision was overturned the following year with a 50 per cent turn-out.

Even if another referendum is called, the prospect of a similar about-turn appears unlikely given that the 55 per cent turn-out for the Lisbon referendum.

This time there does not appear to be a silent "yes" majority waiting in the wings.

IRELAND received widespread support for its rejection of a key EU reform treaty among European newspapers today, but others feared it portends a crisis that could lead to the bloc's collapse.

The Times in London hailed the Irish "no" vote on the Lisbon Treaty as a victory against "a process hitherto shrouded in jargon and pushed along by the civil servants who invented it".

It said the "no" vote - with 53.4 per cent - was in Ireland's own interest, because approval would have meant a dilution of its influence under the proposed changes to majority voting in the enlarged bloc.

But the paper said it was also a vote against the "unsubtle reworking" of the EU constitution rejected by Dutch and French voters in 2005.

The Financial Times offered a similar analysis, calling for the treaty to be sidelined until a common response can be agreed among all 27 leaders.

"The No vote was based on a ragbag of reasons to which there is no obvious response. The turnout was respectable. So a second Irish referendum would probably be doomed to failure," the business daily said in an editorial.

The Sun tabloid, which has been pushing for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to hold a referendum on the treaty - currently being debated in the upper House of Lords - ran an editorial headlined "Pluck of the Irish".

"Ireland proved that when given a say, most people don't like the way Europe is run. They've had enough of being lied to, cheated and bullied by remote, unaccountable and faceless politicians and bureaucrats," it said.

In Germany, the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the Irish vote was "regrettable" but not the "end of the world" for the bloc.

Germany's Die Welt applauded the referendum result. "Why should they have approved a treaty that no-one explained the benefits of?"

"Europe has work to do" in the areas of energy, defence, agricultural policy, education ... and "for all that there is no need for a treaty but political will," the conservative daily said.

But for the centre-left Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the result was a sign "that the European Union has begun to fall apart".

Newspapers in France, which takes over the bloc's rotating presidency next month, said the result means President Nicolas Sarkozy has his work cut out for him.

"France has often been the motor for building Europe. The ball is in its court," wrote the leftist Liberation.

However, it suggested a change of strategy, as it said the Irish vote shows Europe "needs to bring people in on its construction".

The centre-right Le Figaro said the vote showed "European leaders hardly learned the lessons of the crisis begun three years ago by the referendums in France and the Netherlands".

Spain's centre-left El Pais said Europe is "blocked once again by a new crisis" but the liberal El Mundo suggested the way forward was for the other 26 EU member states to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, forcing Ireland to revise its constitution which requires it to consult voters, or to hold a new referendum.

Spain's conservative daily ABC called the vote "the worst setback for the European project in 50 years",

Italy's La Repubblica said the country's ruling conservative coalition was split over the treaty and the Irish vote.

It said that for the Northern League the "European bureaucrats had been vanquished" while for Foreign Minister Franco Frattini it was a "sharp blow to the European structure".

Poland's centre-left daily Gazeta Wyborcza called it "a very bad sign for the whole European Union" and "a gift to the Polish enemies of the EU".

The Polish Parliament has ratified the treaty but it has yet to be signed into law by President Lech Kaczynski.

Result is rejection of the 'militarisation of Europe'

By Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
Saturday June 14 2008

SOCIALISTS, peace campaigners and Catholic groups were celebrating last night after their "mixed bag" coalition helped to defeat the Lisbon Treaty.

Although some of their arguments had been criticised as "scaremongering" by the 'Yes' camp, there was general acceptance that the issues raised about tax, neutrality and public services had contributed to the public unease about the treaty.

Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins said that while there had been different aspects to the 'No' campaign, people opposed the idea of an EU being run by a "round table of industrialists".


"The internationalisation of the armaments industry is a big issue with the Irish people and it is quite clear that the exploitation of workers was as well," he said.


After giving interviews to journalists in Dublin Castle in English, Irish and French, he condemned the Labour party for supporting the treaty as "part of the camp of the capitalist market" and also attacked the pro-treaty trade unions.

Enamoured

"The trade union leadership have got far too enamoured of doing deals with Government and the bosses for 21 years behind closed doors. They should come out and listen to what their membership is saying for a change now," he said.

The result was also a boost for Coir, a rightwing group which produced eye-catching posters featuring three monkeys and slogans such as "Don't give away your freedom".

"The key to the success of our campaign was that we got out the troops as early as six months ago and we had 2,000 volunteers in 43 constituencies," its spokesman Richard Green said.

Long-term neutrality campaigner Roger Cole said that one of the key reasons for the 'No' vote was the Irish opposition to a militarised Europe. His Peace and Neutrality Alliance group considered it to be a victory for the European peace movement as a whole.

People before Profit Alliance member Richard Boyd Barrett, who narrowly missed out on a Dail seat last year, was another who campaigned strongly against the treaty. Although there was a 'Yes' majority in his Dun Laoghaire constituency, it will increase his profile.

Munster-based Independent Kathy Sinnott, who mounted a nationwide poster campaign against the treaty, said the 'No' vote was a positive mandate for change in the EU.

- Michael Brennan Political Correspondent

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It's simple nonetheless, even in German.

Well, Ireland needed to vote for the treaty as their constitution would change with an acceptance of the treaty.

A smarter way would have been to have people vote on the actual
changes to the constitution only. The outcome might have been quite
different then.

Francis wrote:

It's simple nonetheless, even in German.

Indeed: even I could understand it.

BumbleBeeBoogie wrote:

At the moment, this little country is holding a sword over the whole of Europe.

Well, people like these political reporters never learn.

But even if I'm wrong -- where's the big catastrophe?