WHAT THE EU TREATY OF LISBON DOES(legally accurate).

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Might be a bit late but I just found a english subbed lecture from march 2007 by Prof. Schachtschneider from the University of Erlangen, expert in public and state law. Could be interesting for some.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_kB6ejDlq8

Thanks Iks,very interesting indeed 

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Thank you Ireland for having saved our nation states today!
http://wearechangeireland.org/
June 15, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_mKRMbaiXU

Ireland defeated the Lisbon Treaty for Sweden, not the Swedish government. This treaty was already ratified without referendum in the majority of the EU countries, and without any public media debate.

But on behalf of mankind, the Irish defeated the Lisbon-Doctrine overwhelmingly today.

Now we own thanks to the Irish people for having saved us from a dictatorship in Europe!

[tehowe]

Kudos to the courage of the Irish!

Anyone hear the guy that called in to Alan Watt saying that some military contractors from the US were financially backing one of the chief No side campaigns? (I presume he meant Libertas)... and that signs were up in Ireland saying that NATO must be defended? That was wierd. It was on the Friday broadcast.

Watt went on to speculate about how it might have to do with hidden mineral resources. (!?) I don't know about some of the stuff he comes out with sometimes. A bit more in the way of documentation would be helpful.

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This is what the caller might have been talking about

'No' campaign leader lands plum NY police deal
Irish Independent
8 June 2008

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Uncharted territory after No vote - Cowen
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0615/eulisbon.html
15 June 2008

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said it is unclear how the Government and the EU will proceed following Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio's This Week programme, Mr Cowen said we were in 'uncharted territory' and 'we must now chart that territory'.

He said the referendum result left Ireland and the EU in a dilemma and that there was no 'quick fix'.

Mr Cowen added that, if a solution could not be found, the Lisbon Treaty could not come into effect across Europe.

The Taoiseach said he wanted Ireland to remain a constructive member of the EU and that Ireland's future was at the heart of the EU.

Mr Cowen said that his job was to make sure 'our interests in Europe were not compromised' by the referendum result.

He also admitted that the result showed that the Yes side could have run a more effective referendum campaign.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said Mr Cowen now needed to tell the EU that Lisbon was 'finished' and a new Treaty was required.

He said the Treaty in its current form, or with a number of small changes to it, could not be put to the Irish people again.

Mr Adams described the No result as a big victory 'for common sense and democracy'.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband earlier said it was up to Mr Cowen to decide whether or not 'to apply the last rites' to the Lisbon Treaty.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Miliband said there was no question of bulldozing the Irish into voting for the Treaty again, or ignoring the Irish vote.

He said the British government would continue with its ratification process, but conceded the Lisbon Treaty would not come into law if the Irish do not pass it.

Speaking in Korea, French Economic Minister Christine Lagarde said she had high hopes that the EU would soon have another Treaty on reforms to replace the one rejected in Ireland.

Meanwhile Spain's minister for the EU has predicted the Lisbon Treaty would come into force within months despite Irish voters' rejection of it in a referendum.

The treaty, 'will be applied, albeit a few months late,' Diego Lopez Garrido, Spain's secretary of state for EU affairs, was quoted  as saying by the daily El Pais.

The Irish 'no' vote 'is not good, but it should not be dramatised either,' he said.

Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty by 110,000 votes - a margin of 53.4% to 46.6%, in this week's referendum.

First EU talks

European foreign ministers will gather tomorrow to take a first look at the EU's battered reform plans after Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

The ministers, in a day of talks in Luxembourg, will want to hear from Minister Micheál Martin (right) on whether the Government believes anything more can be done to get Ireland to accept the painstakingly assembled document.

Ireland's No vote has set the scene for a tense two-day summit in Brussels starting Thursday. There, the ministers will be looking for clues to the way ahead.

Ahead of the Luxembourg talks - which will also include an update on the EU mission in Kosovo, Iran's nuclear programme, and developments the Middle East and Burma - leaders have insisted that the final eight countries should endorse the text.

France takes over the EU's rotating presidency next month, and yesterday French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) said ratification of the Treaty must continue, 'so that the Irish incident does not become a crisis'.

His European Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet was more blunt, telling French radio there was 'no other solution' than for Ireland to hold a second popular referendum, but that the vote should not be rushed.

Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said, the Union should in no case be held up.

Attempts to clean up the EU's institutional house, so that it can run smoothly with 27 nations, have been held up for the best part of a decade.

The last attempt, the draft constitution, was stopped dead in its tracks by French and Dutch voters three years ago.

The previous shot, the Nice Treaty was rejected once by the Irish but voted through a year later with their concerns taken into account. This is the document the EU will continue to work under until its institutional blues are solved.

However, as EU leaders lean toward moving ahead with Lisbon, they again risk being accused of ignoring their citizens.

Even if EU leaders press Ireland for a new vote at the summit, it is unclear what changes could be made to satisfy the Irish public.

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LISBON TREATY IS DEAD – TAOISEACH MUST RESPECT THE RESULT OF REFERENDUM
http://www.people.ie/press/080614.pdf
14 June 2008

Yesterday our Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box is sovereign.The Government accepts and respects the verdict of the Irish people.

We call on him to keep his word and do exactly that.But unfortunately,there appear to be conflicting messages coming from Mr. Cowen.Although he claims in the Irish media that he will respect our decision,he is reported in the international media sending out a very different message.

Euronews yesterday reported Commission President José Manuel Barroso as saying“The 27 member states signed the treaty.This is a joint responsibility,so I believe we should not rush to conclusions.

The 27 heads of state and governments will now meet next week,to see how to proceed,but as far as I understood from my conversation with Prime Minister Cowen,he also believes the treaty is not dead. I believe the treaty is alive.And we should now try to find a solution.”

If the Taoiseach refuses to make it clear to the other heads of state that the Treaty is dead,implicit in that refusal is that we will re-run the referendum.This is unacceptable.Claims that the other 26 member states will agree a new arrangement without Ireland are nothing more than empty threats designed to put pressure on Ireland.There is no possibility of a 26-state agreement unless Brian Cowen and the government give the other EU heads of state the signal that they can do so and that they,the Irish government,will agree to this hijacking of the EU.Such a scenario is impossible without the consent of all 27 member states.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has a choice;he can respect the decision of the Irish people by telling the other EU heads of state that the Irish people have rejected the Treaty and it is therefore dead and there is no point in proceeding with the ratification process as all 27 member states must agree before it can be accepted.

Or he can turn his back on his own people,dismiss their decision and tell the other member states to proceed with the ratification process as if nothing had happened.This would be a great betrayal of the people.He must respect the Constitution.

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Hello Brussels – Are you listening to us?
http://www.caeuc.org/index.php?q=node/332
June 15th 2008

The NO side won a comprehensive victory of 53.4% against 46.6% of the 1,621,037 people who voted in last Thursday’s Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty (participation was 53.1% - twice as high as those who voted in the Nice Referendum).From the 43 constituencies nationally 33 voted NO!! And as an ex-Irish PM lamented: “The result was very class divided….the NO vote was strongest, up to 65% in working class areas…” Our victory came in the face of a NO side, made up by a variety of small left wing organisations, a couple of Trade Unions and Sinn Fein, having to confront the entire political establishment [all four major Parties: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens], every conceivable employer organisation, the Catholic Church establishment, the powerful Alliance for Europe and 90% of the media.


Three were the major reasons the NO side won :

The utter contempt shown by the YES side both towards its opponents but also the people in general by refusing to distribute the Treaty to households (“it’s too complicated – people wouldn’t understand”), by refusing to debate the contents of the Treaty and relying instead on ideological subterfuges (“Europe has been good to us – it’s our turn to be good to Europe”, “lets be in the heart of Europe”) and such like.

The potency of the three main arguments put forward by our NO campaign, i.e the threat of galloping militarisation and our peoples desire to remain neutral coupled with the fear / anxiety of the free market/undistorted competition focus of the Treaty on the future of public services, particularly health and education and the perceived threat on workers rights following the recent decisions by the ECJ (Laval, Viking and Ruffert).

The general impact of the arguments put forward re: the democratic deficit, the loss of the Commissioner and the decrease in the already small voting power of Ireland in the Commission and the European Parliament

The left/progressive element of the NO campaign has been working diligently since mid-November 2007. Our Campaign is an umbrella grouping of affiliated organisations that had reached 15 by mid-May ’08. While some of the affiliates conducted their own autonomous campaign, there was tight internal cohesion in the Campaign website [www.sayno.ie], the Campaign literature, our meetings all over the country and the Press Releases and statements.

My own personal evaluation of the Campaign, as a National Co-ordinator over the final 10 weeks, is that it has worked exceptionally well managing to set the basis for further programmatic and political unity among most if not all the affiliates.

It is to be noted that the extensive political work of our Campaign, our 10,000 32 pp pamphlets, our more than 600,000 leaflets, our door-to-door canvassing, the 60 or so country-wide meetings were largely ignored by the mainstream media. It was only on Saturday June 14th that the Irish Times published for the first time sections of our victory Press Release. The Irish media was largely on the YES side while some dissent was shown by the UK owned smaller publications.
 

What does the future hold for us? Where do we go from here?

As these lines are being written, a mere 48 hours after our NO victory, we are already confronted by a political scenario operating on two distinct, parallel and potentially conflicting lines. One the hand, we are living in a domain of enthusiasm, of celebration of the popular forces – so rare in Ireland – and a wave of support and congratulations flowing at us from all over Europe, particularly France, Germany, Austria and Greece. This is no dreamland and there is no Alice here who doesn’t live here anymore.

On the opposite plane, there is the anguish, the dejection, the incomprehension of what exactly happened shown by the political elites. At home, the main political parties are blaming each other for not doing enough while the pro-YES media is jeering at them telling them they managed the extraordinary trick of making the YES sounding anything but positive.

In Europe, as Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Martin is going to Brussels on Monday, and the Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Cowen is readying himself to go to Brussels and explain himself on Wednesday, the mood is in crisis mode. Brussels, Paris, particularly Berlin and :London are said to be in shock while the London Financial Times headlined: “Irish poll delivers big blow to EU morale”!!

It is far too early to start speculating of what medicine the Eurocrats may describe to ease their pain, what machinations and scenarios may develop. We will have some time to come back to this as we ourselves sit down and start discussing our next moves. There are a few things though that can be said as a conclusion to this article. Our political traditions in Ireland come from the Enlightenment of the 18th century, of the republicanism of the American revolution against the British, our republicanism in the colonial struggle over the last 150 years, the internationalist socialism of Larkin and Connolly and Constance Markievicz .

We believe that democracy is one of the best ever ideas and realities developed in Europe and we are telling Brussels to respect it. France voted NO, the Netherlands voted NO and now we have voted NO!! Respect the democratic spirit of our people, start defining Europe, our Europe, not merely as a paradise for industrial and financial multinationals and, instead, think about workers rights, the environment and of and end to military aggression. Think of the messages the democratic process is bringing to your doorstep.

Our wish is for a democratic, demilitarised and social Europe.

We are waiting impatiently for Europe's response.

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Cowen disaster: little authority and no leadership
Irish Independent
15 June 2008

THE people’s protest expressed in the Lisbon Treaty referendum has plunged the Government, already beset by economic free fall, into its biggest political crisis in decades.

The painful rejection of the Taoiseach Brian Cowen has focused attention on what is being described as the “disconnect” between the political establishment and the people.

Blame and recrimination are flying on all sides this weekend, with some of the political elite even criticising voters for being “irresponsible mavericks.”

But there is no way a No vote of 53 per cent, on a remarkable turnout of 53 per cent, can be explained by the issues specific to the Lisbon Treaty.

A Government insider told the Sunday Independent: “To put it simply, the people revolted against what they were told to do.”

He added: “There is dismay, anger and confusion inside Government. There is no way the No vote can be put down to a motley collection of lobby groups who opposed the treaty. In my opinion the rejection was galvanised by a genuine mood of protest with us and disenchantment with Europhile talking heads on television.

“People are deeply worried about their own futures, and they felt that the whole Lisbon thing took no heed of their predicament.

“Clearly, they took the opportunity to give us a kick. It may seem irrational, but since when were people supposed to behave rationally all the time?”

The Taoiseach was unavailable for comment yesterday.

But while he faces an embarrassing crisis in Europe, there is no doubt that he faces crisis at home also: the electorate has expressed disconent with him and his Government.

“At the end of the day, all politics is local. The people were as mad as hell, and the top politicians didn’t seem to realise it,” a Government source said.

Just six weeks in the job, the Taoiseach, his authority now in tatters, will this week seek to explain the result to European leaders, themselves intent still on ratifying the treaty.

Mr Cowen has already sought refuge in claims that there was confusion surrounding the issues of the treaty. Within Fianna Fail, as the recrimination continues, they are also seeking a solution in the blaming of the opposition.

But the inescapable fact is that the Irish people took the opportunity to vote against the Government, its policies during the current economic crisis, and against Mr Cowen’s style of leadership.

The Taoiseach sidelined most of his able Cabinet members in order to showcase the new power triumvirate of himself, his Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, and his Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin.

Tanaiste Mary Coughlan was quietly withdrawn from the campaign after she embarrassed the Government by not knowing the number of European Commissioners.

A spokesman for the Taoiseach yesterday said that there was now a possibility of a two-tier Europe, with Ireland being left behind. “This is a difficult situation not just for Ireland, but for Europe,” he added.

No sooner had the result been announced on Friday, though, than an economist offered what may turn out to be the most cogent explanation yet as to why the treaty was definitively rejected here.

A viewpoint is emerging that, among other things, the result was a response to the economic crisis now gripping the country.

Bloxham stockbrokers chief economist Alan McQuaid said immediately after the result that the most important thing now facing the Government was not the fallout from the treaty defeat, but a restoration of consumer confidence.

While he did not go so far as to link the result to the deteriorating economy, the former Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte did. In an article in today’s Sunday Independent, Mr Rabbitte said it was “at least an open question” whether the result was a “verdict on the unease people feel on a range of challenges facing post-Celtic Tiger Ireland.”

Furthermore, in a remark which will touch a nerve in Fianna Fail — and upset the badly damaged Taoiseach even further — Mr Rabbitte said it seemed clear that Mr Cowen did not have the “connection to urban dwellers” that Bertie Ahern, his predecessor, had.

Throughout yesterday the political establishment here remained in a state of anger, but mainly confusion.

The treaty was defeated by 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent. It seems certain from the scale of the defeat that something other than specific treaty issues was concerning the electorate. Just 10 of the 43 constituencies voted in favour.

It is instructive that, in general, the picture is that working- class constituencies voted against, while better-off areas were in favour.

As Mr Rabbitte writes: “A very great many people don't trust the political class. They are in a very cranky mood. People can't be sure that their jobs are safe; petrol is dearer, the shopping basket is more expensive and negative equity is back. Did we ever think we would again see stagflation? The Live Register has increased by a third in Tallaght over the last 12 months and it is not very much different throughout the country.”

[wildcat]

The full text of the treaty can be found here (all 479 pages)

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/st06655-re01.en08.pdf

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The gaffe-ridden 'Yes' campaign spluttered into action far too late
Irish Independent
15 June 2008

WOULD you buy a used car from this man? When that question was first employed in 1960, it was enough to sink the US presidential campaign of the late Richard Nixon.

Roll forward to the Ireland of today, and it seems that voters wouldn't even bring a new car for a test drive if Taoiseach Brian Cowen was the man dangling the keys on the forecourt.

The defeat of the government-led Yes campaign at the hands of the motley right and left alliance of Libertas, Sinn Fein et al, shows just how little the Irish people trust the established political class now.

The underlying public perception that the politicians who advocated the passing of the treaty were merely looking after their own interests, probably wasn't helped by the leaders of the main parties themselves, who instead of explaining why people should vote yes, simply insisted that they should.

Not helping the politicians' cause was their clear inability to come together in a non-partisan campaign to win the referendum.

Tellingly, the first joint news conference held by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore was held just three days before last week's poll.

By then, the referendum horse had long since bolted.

While Fianna Fail and the main opposition parties wasted months navel gazing over the timing of Bertie Ahern's departure, Libertas -- the right-wing European think-tank headed up by businessman Declan Ganley -- seized the opportunity to sow the seeds of doubt over Lisbon.

Since launching his campaign on March 13, Ganley repeatedly pressed home the No campaign's warnings on the loss of our EU commissioner, threats to our neutrality, and the dangers of the treaty for the jealously-guarded 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate. It would be another three weeks after that before Ahern announced his resignation, setting in train a five-week transition period between his departure and Cowen's arrival.

With the main political parties distracted, the No campaign was boosted again on April 14, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Irish voters to support the treaty. Mrs Merkel's intervention during a visit to Dublin saw the Government and Fine Gael accused of a u-turn on their stated position that they would discourage foreign leaders from coming to Ireland during the referendum campaign.

Libertas got another boost on April 20, with aviation entrepreneur Ulick McEvaddy coming out in support of the No campaign. A long-time friend of EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy and PD Mary Harney, McEvaddy denounced the treaty as "totally unintelligible", adding that it would be disastrous for Europe if it was passed in its present form.

On May 12, and just five days in office, newly installed Taoiseach Brian Cowen formally set the date for the referendum for June 12, giving the Yes campaign just four weeks to convince voters.

Taking to the airwaves, the Taoiseach dealt a damaging blow to his own side on the same day, admitting in a radio interview that he had not read the Lisbon Treaty himself.

Five days later, on May 17, the first Irish Times opinion poll appeared to give the Yes campaign some hope, with 35 per cent of those asked stating their intention to support the referendum. Some 18 per cent said they would vote 'No', while 47 per cent remained undecided.

The undecided voters, and even some of those intent on voting Yes, may well have taken note on May 20, with Tanaiste Mary Coughlan's embarrassing remark that large EU countries had more than one commissioner.

Adding to the Yes campaign's woes on May 23, Charlie McCreevy arrived home from Brussels to campaign in Kildare with Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Speaking to reporters, McCreevy admitted that, like Cowen, he hadn't read the Lisbon Treaty either. The loquacious McCreevy quipped how he wouldn't expect any "sane, sensible person" to read the document in its entirety.

A Red C opinion poll in the Sunday Business Post two days later suggested 41 per cent intended to vote Yes, while 33 per cent would vote No. Worryingly for the Yes side, 26 per cent of those polled remained undecided.

May 26 saw another intervention from Europe, with EU President Jose Manuel Barroso warning voters of the consequences for the EU and for Ireland of a No vote. Addressing a European think-tank in Dublin, he said, "there is no Plan B", while adding of the coming referendum, "we will all pay a price for it, Ireland included, if this is not done in a proper way".

While the major employers' representative organisations such as Ibec implored the public to vote Yes, on May 30, the country's largest trade union, Siptu, fired a warning shot across Taoiseach Brian Cowen's bow.

The union, which represents 200,000 workers, said it would not support the Lisbon Treaty, unless the government promised to introduce legislation allowing for collective bargaining, a clause which is already referenced in the treaty under the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

As concern crept in on the Yes side, June 2 saw the first sign of a weakening in Cowen's resolve as he gave a commitment to the Irish Farmers' Association to employ Ireland's veto on any unfavourable deal at the World Trade Organisation talks.

With the farmers now supposedly on side, the Yes campaign was left embarrassed just two days later, on June 4, with the head of the Referendum Commission, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill, unable -- momentarily -- to explain the complexities surrounding certain EU voting rules contained in the treaty text. The judge's hesitation at a press conference served to reinforce claims by the No side that the treaty was unintelligible.

SEE ANALYSIS, PAGES 27,28,29,40

With one week to go to referendum day, the Irish Times opinion poll on June 6 showed a dramatic increase in the number of people intending to vote No. Compared to a lowly 18 per cent three weeks previously, 35 per cent now said they intended to reject the Lisbon Treaty.

The percentage of Yes voters, meanwhile, declined from 35 to 30 per cent, and 28 per cent of those polled remained undecided, while 7 per cent insisted that they wouldn't vote at all.

More interesting, however, were the poll results for the individual political parties. Fine Gael was acutely embarrassed, with 40 per cent of its supporters saying they intended to vote No.

Further bad news for the Yes side came the next day, with Siptu reiterating that it would not support the passing of the Lisbon Treaty in the absence of a commitment from Government to introduce legislation allowing for collective bargaining for workers.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen responded, saying he couldn't give any guarantee on the matter in advance of the national pay talks, where the issue of collective bargaining was already down for discussion.

Last week, and after several weeks of overt and implied criticisms of each others' campaigns, the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Labour Party finally came together in a joint press conference to call for a Yes vote, kicking off a last gasp, three-day drive to pass the Lisbon referendum.

But it was all too little and far too late. The rest, as they say, is history.

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Dublin sees 'no obvious solution' to EU treaty rejection
http://euobserver.com/9/26329
16 June 2008

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Europe will this week try and pick up the political pieces following Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, but the relatively high turnout at the ballot box, the wide margin and the jumble of reasons for the No vote mean an exit strategy will be hard to find.

For the moment other member states have insisted that ratification of the treaty continue, despite the 53.4 to 46.6 percent No vote on Thursday (12 June). But they have made it clear that they expect the Irish government to come the EU leaders summit later this week equipped with some answers.

The Slovenian EU presidency said it would ask Irish prime minister Brian Cowen "to explain the reasons for the rejection of the treaty by the Irish people" at the top-level meeting.

The European Commission almost made it clear that this is more Dublin's problem, rather than a strictly EU one.

A referendum is a "matter of national responsibility" said commission president Jose Manuel Barroso after the vote and pointed out that "our Irish friends always said it was a national campaign."

However Ireland has admitted it will be hard-pressed to come up an answer and asked Europe to not isolate it.

"We now have to sit down in a sense of solidarity and co-operation with all of the member states to see if we can find a way forward and the fact of the matter is there is no obvious solution before us here," said Irish prime minister Brian Cowen in an interview with state broadcaster RTE.

"I want Europe to provide some of the solutions as well as just suggesting that it is Ireland's problem alone, although Ireland has a position here that we have to try to deal with."

France and Germany have been careful to sing from the same hymn sheet, staving off a feeling of Europe in crisis and rushing out a joint statement to say ratification should continue in a bid to stop more eurosceptic countries such as Britain immediately calling off the process.

"The others must continue ratification...so that the Irish incident does not become a crisis," said French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Scrambling for a solution

The next few days are likely to everyone "scrambling" for a legal solution to the quandary, an EU diplomat told EUobserver adding that there is no answer stored away in a "vault" somewhere.

Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said "[The question is whether] Ireland for a certain time can clear the way for an integration of the remaining 26 [member states]."

But all countries need to ratify the Lisbon Treaty for it to come into force. UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff and constitutional affairs expert said attempts to find some sort of legal half-way house are "nonsense."

"We are all trapped in the Treaty of Nice," he said, summing up the situation after the Irish No.

The most obvious way out – without resorting to renegotiating the treaty for which there is little political appetite - is another vote to see if the Irish say yes second time round, something already mooted by France's Europe minister

Jean-Pierre Jouyet told French radio that there was "no other solution" to the situation even if Dublin would have to wait quite a long time to have a second vote.

But it appears unlikely that the Irish government can take this route – something admitted by Conor Lenihan, a junior minister responsible for integration.

"I can't see a situation where we can put this matter again," he told RTE. "I think the result is deeply damaging to our position within Europe,'" while voting again would "create a double risk of creating even more damage.'"

A second vote?

Ireland has voted twice before. In 2001 it rejected the Nice Treaty before accepting it a year later. But the first rejection saw a low voter turnout and came after the government had done virtually no campaigning, being complacent about a Yes.

Thursday's vote saw a relatively good turnout (53% in comparison to 34.8% in the first Nice Treaty vote), based on the back of a strong effort by Dublin to secure a Yes. There appears also not to have been a clear reason for voting No, but rather a motley selection of grumbles, making it difficult to add a few provisos to the treaty to make it more palatable.

On top of that, the EU would leave itself exposed to charges that it is ignoring the will of the people if it pushes Dublin towards a second vote.

The victorious No-side which encompassed pro-business lobby group Libertas and Sinn Fein as well as military neutrality and anti-abortion groups believe the treaty can be renegotiated.

The pro-treaty side believe this is not possible and that Ireland has damaged its European interests.

"Things will never be quite the same again, no matter what deal is eventually patched up at European level. In simple terms, Ireland's position as the favoured child of the EU project can never be restored and we will have to live with the implications of that," said an opinion piece in the pro-Europe Irish Times.

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EU mulls Lisbon Treaty sweeteners for Ireland
http://euobserver.com/9/26338
17 June 2008

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - As EU foreign ministers try to breathe life back into the Lisbon Treaty, the charter of institutional reforms rejected by Irish voters last week, Dublin is likely to be offered stronger guarantees in the sensitive areas of taxation, defence and family policies.

According to the Financial Times, "explanatory protocols" should explicitly state that the document does not affect Ireland's ability to set its own tax rates, the country's neutrality status or its abortion policy.
 
Although the Lisbon Treaty does not undermine Irish powers in these three areas, they all featured prominently in the pre-referendum debate, with the No camp citing them as reasons to not support the document.

A similar solution was found in 2002 after Irish voters ditched the current Nice Treaty a year before.

Another solution being floated involves a legal assurance that Ireland will never lose its seat at the European Commission table, the Irish Times reports. The Lisbon Treaty enables EU leaders to put the reduction of the size of the commission on ice.

Either scenario is expected to be agreed at the first top-level meeting of EU leaders under the French EU presidency in October.

"The best is to find common ground with the Irish," Luxembourg's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, was cited as saying by the FT. He added that the second best option would involve "enhanced co-operation in which Ireland would not take part and would not block the others."


The EU is not in a crisis, ministers say

But EU foreign ministers, kicking off a week of emergency talks on Monday (16 June), fell short of spelling out an official fix to the situation.

"In order to understand this referendum well, we need to take some time to reflect upon it, some time for analysis, for consultations and for studying of this problem," Dimitrij Rupel, speaking on behalf of the Slovene EU presidency, said after the meeting.

The Slovene foreign minister was quick to add that the European Union "is not in a crisis" and that the Lisbon Treaty "is still alive."

"I am convinced that sooner or later these reforms will see the light of day," Mr Rupel said, but stopped short of outlining a concrete way out of the deadlock. "How we will find a solution on the next step is another question."

Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin, for his part, also stressed that it was "far too early to start coming up with solutions." The thorny question is to be the main topic on the agenda when EU leaders meet in Brussels at the end of the week (19-20 June).


But whether it wants to confront the issue or not, the EU is likely to find itself under pressure to deal with practical consequences of the treaty rejection.

Irish No will not put brakes on EU enlargement

Aside from the size of the next European Commission - now capped by the current EU rules - a question mark hangs over the 27-nation bloc's capacity to absorb new members.

The Nice Treaty is tailored to no more than 27 member states.

When asked about the prospects of EU hopefuls' accession to the EU, Mr Rupel excluded any changes to the process.

"The outcome of the Irish referendum in no way changes enlargement policy...The EU unanimously decided to invited the countries of the Western Balkans to take membership so there is no doubt about that," the minister said, but added: "How we will carry that out that is another question."

Minister Rupel's line was quickly backed by EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn. The union "cannot take time out from [its] consolidated and carefully managed accession policy."

But not all politicians are singing from the same hymn sheet, with Germany's Angela Merkel spelling out some stark realities on her visit to Gdansk, Poland on Monday.

"We need this treaty in order to think about further EU enlargement," she said, Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reports. Speaking during a visit to the Czech Republic, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said: "In order to open up to the Balkans, to Croatia, we need the treaty of Lisbon."

Ms Merkel and Mr Tusk in Gdansk reiterated last week's call for the ratification process to continue, with the chancellor saying "I am sure we will develop a solution for Ireland."

But Polish media say German diplomats aired worries that the Irish No could spark fresh ratification problems in the UK, the Czech Republic and Poland, where the president, eurosceptic Lech Kaczynski, has yet to sign the text.

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Revealed: why we voted 'No' to Lisbon
Irish Independent
17 June 2008

ALMOST three-quarters of people who voted 'No' in the Lisbon Treaty referendum mistakenly believed the pact could be easily renegotiated.

A major survey of voters conducted by the European Commission immediately after last Thursday's referendum reveals why a majority of Irish people rejected the treaty.

The publication of the first research into the reasons behind the 'No' vote comes as Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin desperately attempt to garner support across the EU to help Ireland resolve the crisis caused by the result.

The poll of 2,000 voters found:

- Young people voted 'No' by a margin of two to one.

- The vast majority of women voted 'No'.

- A large number of people who do not vote in general elections voted.

- People who did not understand the treaty voted 'No'.

- The huge influx of immigrants into the country was a factor in the 'No' vote.

- More than 70pc of 'No' voters thought a second treaty would be negotiated.

This belief is being attributed to the Nice I and II scenarios, where the treaty was re-run in a referendum after assurances were given on Ireland's neutrality.

The findings show immigration was an unspoken factor in the vote, as people expressed concern about the numbers of immigrants coming to the country in such a short time. The rise in unemployment, allied to foreign workers coming to the country, was also cited.

Mr Cowen faces a battery of questions today on this week's EU Council meeting as he returns to the Dail for the first time since the referendum defeat.

European Union foreign ministers vowed yesterday to keep the treaty alive, despite the vote, but conceded they had no quick solution to salvage it.

But EU leaders will expect to hear from Mr Cowen at a summit in Brussels later this week on whether he sees any hope of winning a new referendum. The second referendum step has not been ruled out by ministers, but is a high-risk strategy.

Mr Cowen acknowledged that Ireland faced a "dilemma" over the defeated treaty, after he emerged from a meeting with British prime minister Gordon Brown.

In an effort to win the support and understanding of his EU counterparts, he met Mr Brown for 20 minutes during the visit of US President George W Bush to the North.

The input of Mr Brown was described as both "measured and constructive" by the Taoiseach. But he also conceded that the Government is now facing a "dilemma" and a "problem".

Dilemma

"I think we are setting the scene for a process of work that needs to take place. It doesn't reduce the fact that there is a dilemma here, that there is a problem here that we have to face and confront," he said.

"But I think we have to do it calmly and collectively and do it in a way which seeks to push matters forward."

Mr Martin said none of his EU counterparts blamed the Government for the crisis.

He said all countries vowed to work with Ireland to find a solution to the problem and there were no threats of exclusion from the EU's future.

Meeting EU representatives for the first time since the defeat of the referendum, Mr Martin said the mood was one of a "sense of solidarity".

EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy earlier warned that Ireland would not be "bullied" by the EU.

Although he said it was possible "new arrangements" could be made between the Government and EU leaders on the way forward, he said the "sovereign decision" of the Irish people had to be respected.

[Sub-X]

EU ministers say Ireland will not be excluded from union
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/frontpage/2008/0617/1213646602958.html
17 June 2008

EU FOREIGN ministers said the Lisbon Treaty was "still alive" yesterday, but assured Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin that this did not mean Ireland would be excluded from the union.

Ministers from the eight EU member states that have yet to ratify the treaty signalled they would continue this process despite the Irish No vote.

France and Germany, which both threatened to isolate Ireland in the wake of last week's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, softened their public stance, saying that the Irish No was not just an Irish problem.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said Paris respected the Irish vote. "We are all Irish," he said. "It's a European matter and it is not an Irish matter."

Mr Martin told journalists no one had pointed the finger of blame at Ireland and there was a spirit of solidarity at the EU meeting, which was held behind closed doors in Luxembourg.

He did not rule out holding a second referendum on a redrafted version of the treaty but said it was far too early to decide how to proceed.

"We have not considered any options . . . We don't want to be left behind, we have always been strong supporters of deepening the impact of the EU on our lives," said Mr Martin, who insisted that his EU counterparts understood the need to give the Government time and space to analyse the results.

Mr Martin held a bilateral meeting with German foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, who over the weekend had suggested that Ireland could take a break from the union.

Mr Steinmeier said yesterday he hoped for a solution this year and suggested a re-vote might be possible after adaptations to the treaty to address Irish concerns. "There are thoughts about whether the Danish model of 1992 might be a model," he said, referring to opt-outs granted to Denmark that enabled the Danes to endorse the Maastricht Treaty after an initial referendum thumbs-down.

One potential adaptation being considered by EU officials would provide Ireland with the right to appoint a permanent commissioner.

Meanwhile, France yesterday blamed the European Commission for the Irish No vote, saying it had not addressed EU citizens' concerns about rising oil and food prices. But commission officials privately rejected this suggestion, arguing French officials had caused more problems during the campaign by being outspoken on corporate tax and threatening to punish Ireland for a No vote.

During a visit to the Czech Republic the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said he would like to visit Ireland to find out why voters rejected the treaty. After meeting central European leaders he rejected talk of a "two-speed" EU in which countries that ratified the treaty would press ahead leaving others behind.

In the House of Commons yesterday, British foreign secretary David Miliband denied Conservative Party claims that Ireland was being "bullied" into accepting the treaty because of combined British, French and German plans to press ahead with ratification.

Mr Miliband said: "You underestimate the Irish people if you think me, by talking to the French and Germans - as if that is some kind of sin in the European Union - is going to bully them into anything."

Meanwhile the Taoiseach discussed the implications of the referendum result with the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, in the margins of their meeting with US president George Bush in Belfast.

"I believe that prime minister Brown's comments earlier today, which he repeated in our meeting, were measured and constructive, and recognise the need for the EU member states to work together calmly and constructively to find a way to deal with the undoubted difficulties which arise from the referendum result," said the Taoiseach.

Mr Cowen added that he would be briefing all the other EU leaders at the European Council in Brussels on Thursday. He said that while he understood that the result of the referendum gave rise to deep disappointment among other EU leaders, it would be important for all the member states to work together in finding an acceptable path forward.

The Cabinet in Dublin will consider the issue today.

[Sub-X]

Open Letter to European leaders
http://www.caeuc.org/index.php?q=node/334
by Susan George, Honourary President of ATTAC France
Jean-Marie Harribey and Aurélie Trouvé, Co-Presidents of ATTAC France
Michael Youlton, National Co-ordinator of the Irish ‘Campaign Against the EU Constitution’ (CAEUC)
17 June 2008

"How many NOs do you need before you begin listening to us?"


In 2005, the citizens of two European Union member states, the French and the Dutch, said NO to your Constitutional project. On June 12 2008, the citizens of the Republic of Ireland, the only ones in Europe who had the right to vote, rejected the Lisbon Treaty - an almost identical copy of the defunct Constitution which, according to Valery Giscard d’Estaing, had been cosmetically altered “to make it easier to swallow”. The first time around, Gunter Verheugen, Vice-President of the EU Commission, said “Europe should not succumb to blackmail”!! This time around, President José Manuel Barroso advised the various member states “to continue with the process of ratification”! In short, you seem to be eternally mocking the democratic process; you are ready to disregard your own rules and regulations instead of accepting the messages sent to you by the people .

There is none more deaf than those who refuse to hear. You have a mouth to dictate to us but no ears to listen to the needs and requests of European citizens who demand a democratic Europe every time they are given the opportunity. You fear public opinion - and rightly so for it rejects you. The President of France is aware of this. Speaking to a number of Euro-deputies, he admitted: “By voting NO, France was simply ahead of the posse….The same would happen in every European State if the people had the opportunity to express themselves in a referendum….there is a chasm between the people and their governments.” [reported in the Daily Telegraph, 15.11.07, and never denied].

You despise popular sovereignty and universal suffrage. In France, social-liberal members of parliament, together with those of the Gaullist majority, have taken the place of the former in order to do away with the latter. Today, however, following the Irish vote in the Lisbon referendum, we pose the question again: What must we do to get your attention? Do you want self-obsession, nationalism and even violence to supplant every European political project? We cannot accept this, because we believe in democracy and the political traditions that come from the Enlightenment. In this context, we are thinking of a text that you seem to have thrown into the waste paper basket, along with many others: “Society has the right to ask every administrator to account for his/her actions”. This is, of course, from Article XV of the Declaration of Human and Citizens' Rights of 1789, written in the aftermath of the French Revolution. This does not embarrass you, because you have long since learned to circumvent it. Concerning Europe, it appears, Society has no right to challenge and still less to ask you to account for your actions!

In any case, we will continue to shout the truth despite the fact that you seem to be incapable of listening: stop trying to extinguish the lights of the Enlightenment. In so doing you daily dig a deeper trench between yourself and the people; you are sinking Europe! Democracy has been Europe’s best idea, its most precious achievement, the foundation of its cultural and material wealth. Every time democracy was abandoned, Europe sank deeper into catastrophe.

We will oppose you when you try to define and shape your Europe, which is also our Europe, against the wishes of its people. We will not allow it to become the paradise for transnational industrial, military and financial corporations that you are constructing without concern for the workers and citizens of Europe and the world. Neither will it become a militarised space under NATO command. Europe must have the best public services in the whole world, the best educational, health and full-employment policies.

We call upon the peoples of Europe to take a leading role in deciding our common future. This is no longer an issue for Ireland alone, but for all the peoples of Europe. We will not tolerate a situation whereby, over time, ways and means are sought to compel Ireland 'to vote correctly', although the Lisbon Treaty represented a denial of democracy for the vast majority of the population of Europe.

We are convinced Europeans. We believe that Europe can become a hope, an opportunity for humanity, but only if it can build an exemplary political space where rules are crafted in a peaceful, social, ecological and democratic manner This ideal is shared by many. All we are asking is that you at last prove yourselves worthy of your people.

[Sub-X]

EU needs new direction, not a rehashed treaty says Cóir.
http://www.lisbonvote.com/
PRESS RELEASE, 16/6/2008

Cóir has said that the European Union needs a new direction, not a rehashed treaty which would ignore the underlying problems with the democratic deficit in Europe. Speaking in the wake of Ireland's resounding No to the Lisbon Treaty, Cóir spokesman Richard Greene said that it was "farcical and fundamentally undemocratic to speak of 'improving' or 'amending' the Lisbon Treaty in order to offer it again to the Irish people."

And Mr Greene also had a strong message for an Taoiseach Brian Cowen: "The only obligation on Mr Cowen at this point in time is to tell his EU counterparts that the Lisbon Treaty is dead in the water and that the ratification process much cease immediately. If Mr Cowen does not feel competent to represent the wishes of the people then he should resign immediately," he said.

The Cóir spokesman said that the attitude of Irish political representatives in the past three days was "utterly despicable and unworthy of a sovereign people". He especially deplored any suggestions that the people would be forced to vote again on what he described as a "treaty which cannot be patched up by concessions since the premise on which is has been written is fundamentally flawed."
The Lisbon Treaty was designed to make Europe less representative, less democratic and more federalized. The 'No' vote shows that the Irish people wanted to keep the right to decide on many important issues - whether it be taxation, defence or important moral issues. That decision should now send an important message to the EU elites in Brussels, since what began as a European economic project has now led to unelected bureaucrats wanting the right to rule absolutely. This proposed challenge to freedom and sovereignty was rightly rebuffed by the Irish people.
The European Union now needs a period of reflection and consultation which was supposed to follow the French and Dutch 'No' votes. Cóir strongly recommends as a minimum that:

 - Any treaty which transfers sovereignty away from the people of any member state to the European Union should only be ratified by a popular vote in every member state.
 - There should be a shift of power from the unelected Commission back to the people.
 - The population-based voting system currently being proposed be dropped since it represents a power-grab by the Big States
 - The so-called Charter of Rights should be scrapped; it does not recognize the right to life from conception not does it support the natural family. In any case Ireland has her own charter of rights - Bunreacht na hÉireann which puts the Irish people in charge.
 - The Irish government adopts a new attitude to EU negotiations, one which will best serve the people by demanding our rights are protected. They should begin by reclaiming our fishing rights which were given away in a fool's bargain which has cost the Irish people €200 billion.

[Sub-X]

Irish No side rejects additional protocols as 'trinkets'
http://euobserver.com/9/26343
17 June 2008

The various and often conflicting groups that made up the multi-headed No campaign in Ireland want any European institutional interpretation of why Irish people voted the way they did to take on board their key demands.

The groups, particularly those on the left, are worried that European leaders are already cooking up protocols on "non-institutional issues" that can be bolted on to the treaty to ensure its passage in a possible second referendum.
 
Following the defeat of the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish referendum on Thursday (12 June), EU officials have said that the country will likely be offered additional guarantees of its sovereignty, most likely in areas such as taxation, military policy and family law.

"A couple of protocols, whether on neutrality or taxes is not enough because the very heart of the Lisbon Treaty will not have been changed in any way," said Patricia McKenna, a former Green MEP for Ireland and leader of the People's Movement, one of the main No campaign groups.

"The European leaders are ignoring the real reasons why people voted No," she told the EUobserver, "while at the same time engaging in a concerted effort to make the Irish people feel guilty for saying No on the one hand and isolated on the other as they forge ahead anyway. They think that if we feel sufficiently guilty, these messages softens us up for a second referendum."

There is a long list of policy issues that EU leaders must pay attention to, including institutional ones, she argued, in particular "fair trade not free trade", bringing an end to the privatisation agenda and "the whole question of workers' rights in the wake of recent [European Court of Justice] decisions".

On the weekend, the European commission organised a 'flash' poll of 2000 Irish voters to find out the reasons behind their vote.

According to the Irish Independent, more than 70 percent of those who voted No did so because they thought the treaty could be renegotiated.

The unreleased survey also found that many people who do not normally vote in elections turned out this time, that people who said they did not understand the treaty tended to vote No; and that increased immigration played a role in the No vote.

Campaign groups are arguing that the No vote is more profound.

"They can't come back a second time with a few trinkets attached and expect us to change our minds. It just won't work," said Ms McKenna "The danger for them is that this will blow back in their faces and will probably result in an even higher No vote next time around."

No side to debrief before deciding next moves

Michael Youlton, a campaigner with the Campaign Against the EU Constitution, CAEUC – the umbrella group that brought together all the No campaign groups apart from Libertas and the conservative Catholic Coir, said his alliance will wait a while before deciding how to respond to proposals on opt-outs.

"We'll have to see what the EU leaders come up with and then we'll react fully. The government is completely confused and backbiting, so we don't know yet completely what they're going to propose."

The group will bring together its 15 constituent members next Saturday (21 June), immediately after the European summit to debrief on the campaign and decide their next steps.

"At the moment, we are not keen to fight another referendum, although having said that, we may have to face that, and it'll probably come sooner rather than later if it does – September or October, as the EU leaders will still want to stick to their schedule."

Ten to eleven groups in the alliance are particularly opposed to the idea of a second referendum, he said.

Nonetheless, Sinn Fein, a member of CAEUC, has laid out a series of demands for opt-outs and protocols that should be contained in a new document following any additional negotiations.

The republican party wants each member state to retain its commissioner and the maintenance of existing voting strength in the Council of Ministers. Alongside this, Sinn Fein wants vetoes on public services, international trade and taxation, as well as opt-outs on nuclear power and enhancement of military capability and a specific article on neutrality.

Additionally, the party wants greater protection for workers' rights and the promotion of fair trade rather than free trade.

Declan Ganley, the multi-millionaire founder of Libertas, the No campaign group that campaigned on more libertarian grounds, insisted the vote was "not a Eurosceptic message, but a pro-European message".

Immediately after the vote, he stressed the democratic deficit in Brussels as the heart of his group's message, despite the prominence of tax harmonisation and concerns about the effects of regulation on businesses the group's campaign literature.

[Sub-X]

European defence remains a French priority, says Sarkozy
http://euobserver.com/9/26341
17 June 2008

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has reaffirmed his intention to make European defence a major theme during his country's six-month stint at running the European Union, beginning in less that two week's time.

In a key address before French military brass on Tuesday (17 June), Mr Sarkozy said "building European defence is our priority" and that "whatever the future of the Treaty of Lisbon" he would not change his mind.

Last week Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty, a new set of institutional rules for the bloc that makes some significant changes in the defence area.

These includes an article on the "progressive framing of a common union defence policy", an article on mutual assistance and the possibility for "permanent structured co-operation" between countries that are politically willing and military capable.

The French president also renewed calls for a "modern, flexible" European force of 60,000 soldiers that could be deployed anywhere in the world for up to a year.

Rapid Reaction Force

EU member states in 1999 committed themselves to achieving a Rapid Reaction Force of this size, deployable within 60 days. The goal was meant to be realised in 2003 but has suffered from flagging enthusiasm, lack of resources and duplication problems with NATO.

Mr Sarkozy said he wants to make defence and security policy an example of a "concrete Europe, of a Europe that responds to the needs of its citizens."

"I very much hope that the French presidency of the European Union (…) will be the first step in a veritable relaunch of European defence for the coming years," he said, according to AP.


But he noted that national armies would remain so as they cannot be integrated into a "supranational army."

Mr Sarkozy also said that the Europe's vocation is to embody an ideal of peace and liberty.

"I am of the conviction that it is France's vocation to carry this ideal of peace and liberty. It is Europe's ideal to embody it in the current world. For Europe, whatever its institutional ups and downs, has overcome its divisions, its historic confrontations, to create, with an ever closer union, a unique model of cooperation between our nations."

Rejoining NATO

The French president also restated France's wish to rejoin NATO's integrated military command, which it left in 1966 and announced a streamlining of the French army.

The country's defence white book recommends the cutting of 54,000 military posts from the current 330,000 within the next six years, making its smaller and more mobile.

France is to spend €377 billion from 2009 to 2020 on defence including €200 billion on new equipment, said Mr Sarkozy, with an increase in the military budget foreseen from 2012.

The announcements are part of the first overhaul of French defence in 14 years. In the run-up to the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty some of the discussion had focussed on whether Ireland's traditional neutrality would be eroded.

The anti-treaty side claimed that publication of the French defence paper had been delayed until after the referendum in case it gave weight to these neutrality fears - a claim given credence in French newspapers but denied by the Elysee Palace.

[Sub-X]

Ireland's commissioner under fire for 'poor' EU treaty campaign
http://euobserver.com/9/26342
17 June 2008

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG - The leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament, Martin Schultz, has accused Irish EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy of "arrogance" for his public revelations that he had not read the Lisbon Treaty and for a visit to the US just ahead of the referendum in Ireland.

"We have to ask Mr Barroso what kind of people he has in his commission, particularly if you have someone acting as the deregulation Pope in Europe who then goes home and says he hasn't read the treaty and doesn't understand it," Mr Schultz told reporters on Tuesday (17 June).

He was reacting to several statements of Mr McCreevy, who is in charge of internal market in the 27-member-strong European Commission, ahead of the only popular vote on the new EU reform treaty in Ireland held last week, in which the Irish rejected the document.

The commissioner admitted a lack of knowledge of details of the treaty in an interview with the EUobserver, saying he had only read most of a summary of the document.

"I would predict that there won't be 250 people in the whole of the 4.2 million population of Ireland that have read the treaties cover-to-cover. I further predict that there is not 10 percent of that 250 that will understand every section and subsection," he said.

"But is there anything different about that?" said the commissioner, adding: "Does anyone read the finance act?" referring to the lengthy documents he drew up when he was finance minister in Ireland.

Mr Schultz said he was "particularly disappointed" by such remarks, as well as by Mr McCreevy's visit to the States four days before the vote. "That is an arrogance that we cannot put up with," he added.

Moreover, the German Socialist leader criticised the EU executive for tabling proposals on rising oil prices the day after - rather than before - the referendum in Ireland, saying he was "amazed" that it had happened.

"There is little passion for European integration, [but] there is passion against Europe. The pro-Europeans need to look to themselves. You cannot allow the No to win because the Yes is not doing anything."

Both the commission and Slovenia, which currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, will on Wednesday brief MEPs on the expected proceedings at summit of the bloc's leaders. The summit, which begins on Thursday, is to give the first initial response to what impact the Irish No will have on the Union's further proceedings.

In his own reaction to the verdict delivered by his fellow Irish citizens, commissioner McCreevy said: "We should remember that Ireland is not alone in being unable to secure a popular endorsement of a European Treaty. As politicians this is something we need to learn from."

[TR4D3R]

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=bM2Ql3wOGcU

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=-I8M1T-GgRU

In the first link Bukovsky t his best (i really love this men)

In the second link Barroso Saying that europe is like an empire...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYU0pwk8zPI

This is very good to..

[Sub-X]

Great links TR4D3R,thanks 

[White Rose Sophie]

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=bM2Ql3wOGcU

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=-I8M1T-GgRU

In the first link Bukovsky t his best (i really love this men)

In the second link Barroso Saying that europe is like an empire...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYU0pwk8zPI

This is very good to..

Bukovsky definitely ROCKS.

And that Barroso-sh!t.....oh my gosh, have you ever seen anyone with an oilier smile?  Ewww.    You can literally see the programming as he speaks.  And of course, no one will 'lose' their national identity...what foppish claptrap! "No...we are not creating a 'super-state'...a "United States of Europe".  WHAT?  And of course, doing it for 'security's sake".  Security?  Is "EUROPE" being threatened by someone?  I mean, someone OTHER than it's politicians?   

[tehowe]

Ireland's commissioner under fire for 'poor' EU treaty campaign
http://euobserver.com/9/26342
17 June 2008

In his own reaction to the verdict delivered by his fellow Irish citizens, commissioner McCreevy said: "We should remember that Ireland is not alone in being unable to secure a popular endorsement of a European Treaty. As politicians this is something we need to learn from."

Yeah, he and the Taoseach really messed up, the Irish didn't give the correct answer. Maybe they'll 'get it right' next time. 

[Sub-X]

Tentative Taoiseach escapes from the Lisbon lions' den unscathed
Irish Independent
June 18 2008

Brian Cowen must have been wondering what sort of reception awaited him as he took his seat for the first session of Taoiseach's Questions since the Lisbon Treaty was given a thorough kicking by a disgruntled electorate.

Would he be set upon by roaring pro-Lisbon Lions on the opposition benches? Would Sinn Fein's Caoimhghin O Caolain -- radiating the magnanimity of the victorious -- cross the chamber floor and offer his condolences for Brian's loss?

But it turned out that nobody in the Dail had the stomach for either open celebration or overt confrontation. The mood on both sides of the House was sombre and there was an air of anxiety about the place, as both main opposition leaders fretted over the future consequences of the 'No' vote.

"How do you see it panning out?" wondered Eamon, while Enda was harbouring horrible visions of Ireland puttering along in the slow lane of prosperity.

"We do not want to end up with a two-speed Europe, where some countries go off in front and others are left behind," worried the Fine Gael leader.

"From that perspective, the Taoiseach has a serious problem. Will he not suspend the business of the House today so we may discuss this matter?"

"Hear, hear," chipped in Leo Varadkar.

But Brian wasn't in the mood. He wanted to stress to his fellow deputies that there was every reason to be afraid of the unfolding Nightmare on Kildare Street.

"There is no immediate quick-fix solution available. There is a serious political and legal situation that must be examined and discussed." he emphasised.

But O Caolain couldn't refrain from a brief lap of honour when it came to his turn. "I would like to commend not only those who had the conviction and courage to say 'No' last Thursday, but also all those who participated," he began before being pulled up short by the Ceann Comhairle.

"You've been involved in negotiations yourself, or your party has?" he sniped to O Caolain.

"I am sure the deputy is aware of the way negotiations work on the political scene. In talks on Northern Ireland we did not end up with a united Ireland, but with the Good Friday agreement and we all have to live with it. It is not ideal but it is the balance we have found," he explained, attempting to keep the peace.

However, feelings were running high. After Leader's Questions, Varadkar was first up to call for an adjournment of the Dail to debate the 'No' vote.

But the Ceann Comhairle ruled that the matter didn't warrant an adjournment.

Leo the Lisbon Lion was outraged. "It's an absolute disgrace," he shouted, looking for a door to slam on his way out. Naughty Leo the Lion -- Enda won't give him his pocket money if he doesn't watch out.

[Sub-X]

EU-wide debates on Lisbon's future
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0618/eulisbon.html
18 June 2008

The Dáil, Westminster and the European Parliament are today debating the future of the Lisbon Treaty.

The Dáil debate is under way and is scheduled to last more than five hours.

AdvertisementThe European Parliament is also debating the implications of the Irish No vote today.

The outcome of last week's referendum sparked a stormy debate in the European Parliament, where the leader of the Socialist group, Martin Schulz, demanded that Charlie McCreevy be removed as Internal Market Commissioner.

He said Mr McCreevy contributed to a No vote with comments about how one would have to be insane to have read the Treaty.

The Vice President of the European Commission has said preliminary results from an opinion poll show the Irish rejection of the Treaty was not intended as a general No to Europe.

Margot Wallström told the European Parliament that a wide and intelligent debate on the future of the EU was needed between the institutions and the citizens in the aftermath of the Irish No.

Meanwhile, Britain is expected to complete ratification of the Lisbon Treaty today when the process reaches its final stage in the House of Lords.

The British government acknowledges that all 27 EU members must ratify the Lisbon Treaty before it comes into force.

It says it will go ahead with its ratification process as planned, despite Ireland's referendum result rejecting the treaty.

Conservatives have said they will attempt to delay the process until the autumn, by attempting to introduce an amendment to the ratification bill.

They believe that by delaying the process, the way forward following Ireland's rejection would be somewhat clearer.

However, the British government is expected to win the vote today.

British ratification will then be complete once Queen Elizabeth has signed the bill.

[Sub-X]

EU treaty likely to win House of Lords backing despite Irish vote
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2150302/EU-treaty-likely-to-win-House-of-Lords-backing-despite-Irish-vote.html
18 June 2008

The House of Lords is preparing to vote on the controversial European Union Treaty despite Ireland's rejection of it last week.
The Government is confident that peers will vote to ratify the treaty despite intense Conservative opposition.

Lord Howell, a former Conservative minister, this week tabled a motion urging the Lords to delay ratifying the treaty until October when it will become clear how the European Union will deal with the Irish rejection.

Lord Howell said: "As the amending chamber it is essential for the Lords to return this Bill to the elected House of Commons so that they can review the new situation." However, peers are expected to vote against the amendment.

Ratification of the treaty is expected to go-ahead in the face of a poll finding widespread opposition to the move among the British public.

According to a YouGov poll carried out after the Irish result was announced on Friday, 54 per cent of British voters now believe the Government should drop the Lisbon Treaty - which would sweep away dozens of national vetoes - and not try to ratify it.

Only 14 per cent of those questioned agreed that the Government should carry on and ratify the controversial agreement, which would also create a new European president and foreign minister.

The poll was commissioned by Open Europe, a eurosceptic think-tank.

Neil O'Brien of Open Europe said: "Pressing ahead as if nothing has happened looks all wrong. Most of his own voters think that Gordon Brown should now drop the Lisbon Treaty and not try to ratify it."

The agreement must be ratified by all 27 European Union members before it can take force next year. A Daily Telegraph campaign seeking a UK referendum on the text last year gathered more than 115,000 signatories.

Bill Cash, the veteran Eurosceptic Tory backbencher, is also making a legal attempt to stop the bill being given assent.

[Sub-X]

Cowen says Ireland 'faces uncertainty'
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0618/breaking2.htm
18 June 2008

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has warned that Ireland faces a period of uncertainty in the wake of last week’s No vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum.

The Taoiseach said he would not be calling on other EU states to scrap their ratification of the treaty
In a Dáil debate today on the outcome of last week’s referendum, Mr Cowen said he did not believe the result constituted a rejection of Europe or of the need to change how the union works.

But he said the Government fully accepted the verdict of the people and that the “will of the people was sovereign in our democracy”.

“It is for the Government now to manage the political situation that develops as a result, both at home and internationally."

The Taoiseach said he had no doubt that Ireland’s partners in Europe had a preference for finding a shared solution to the current impasse. 

The referendum result is dominating Leinster House today ahead of tomorrow's EU summit in Brussels, where Mr Cowen will outline the Government's view of the referendum.

He said he hoped other states would “accord us the time we need to play our part in understanding last week’s vote and not to prejudice….

In his assessment of the referendum result, the Taoiseach conceded the core message of the need for the EU to function more efficiently did not sufficiently register with the public.

He also said that the format of the Treaty, with its countless series of detailed amendments to existing treaties, became a frustration with the electorate.

Mr Cowen said many people were uneasy “about an apparent diminution in Ireland’s representation and influence in the institutions of the Union” in particular the loss of a commissioner for five out of every 15 years.

“Despite the fact that this was already agreed under the Nice Treaty which the Irish people accepted and which Ireland ratified.”

He said there was also concern expressed about Ireland’s right to maintain its tax sovereignty, its military neutrality and how the European Court of Justice would affect domestic laws such as abortion.

This was compounded, he believed, by other factors including a deep unease within the Irish farming community regarding the current strategy being adopted in negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.

Mr Cowen said he also held the belief that the current economic conditions may have affected the disposition of people as they approached the act of voting in the referendum.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said several of the No campaigns were based on lies repeated again and again, “even when these lies had been discredited by independent sources”.

“This was done with the clear intent to confuse people and create doubts in their minds,” Mr Kenny said.

Some of the claims, relating to tax, defence, abortion and euthanasia were simply groundless “while others, like 'vote Yes to keep our Commissioner' or our voting strength will be halved' were based on gross distortions of the Treaty,” he said.

Mr Kenny said the result meant the treaty could not come into force as planned on 1st January next.

He also contended that the long delay in setting a date for the referendum created a vacuum in which false information was disseminated.

Explaining the failure of the Yes campaign, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said treaty was not an easy document to communicate.

Mr Gilmore said: “It was not based on one particular big idea, but rather contained a series of reforms, intended to make the European Union more effective and democratic.”

The absence of a unified theme, that could be related to the everyday lives of our people, meant that from day one, we were explaining. And in politics, when you’re explaining, you’re loosing,” he said.

[corbettreport]

Free Humanity 3, EU 0
But will the EU dictators play by the rules?

James Corbett
The Corbett Report
18 June, 2008

Ireland may only have a population of 4 million, but their relatively small voice was heard round the world as they rejected the Lisbon Treaty last week, dealing a severe blow to the European empire. Fearing a repeat of the EU constitution debacle—where the French and Dutch voters trounced the federal superstate by voting against the constitution—this time around only the citizens of Ireland were given the chance to vote on the Lisbon Treaty (which is just the EU constitution by another name). As such, Ireland was the only hope for the defeat of this disastrous treaty, and the people of Ireland must be commended for having made the right choice in last week's referendum.

Stopping the European Union dead in its tracks on its way to becoming a one-state dictatorship is indeed cause for celebration. The empire has been dealt a harsh blow. By the European Union's own laws, the treaty has to be ratified by every European country in order to become law. Having been refused by Ireland, the treaty should now legally be dead on arrival. But don't expect those who wish to see the end of national sovereignty in Europe to play by the rules.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

[Sub-X]

MEPs in passionate war of words over Irish No
http://euobserver.com/9/26348
18 June 2008

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG - Supporters and opponents of the Lisbon Treaty in the European Parliament have crossed rhetorical swords in a debate over the consequences of Ireland's No to the document, with several Irish MEPs saying their country alone cannot decide for the whole bloc.

After the Irish rejection featured in several diverse discussions throughout this week's plenary session in Strasbourg, the assembly held a debate dedicated exclusively to the issue on Wednesday (18 June).
 
With all eyes on the EU leaders' summit in Brussels on Thursday, Janez Lenarcic, secretary of state for European affairs for Slovenia, currently chairing the 27-strong bloc, told MEPs that the continued ratification of the treaty looks likely to be supported by all participants at the top-level meeting.

"The presidency has held talks with countries which have not yet ratified the treaty, and it is quite encouraging to see that those countries are ready to continue the ratification process," said Mr Lenarcic.

The same approach was advocated by the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who argued that the energy the EU had put in to drawing up its internal reform "cannot go to waste."

"I do not think that we can rush into a premature decision about the next step. We need to take the time to find a real consensus and see what is possible for Ireland. But equally we should not take too long," said Mr Barroso.

EU nationalism?

But the idea of a possible re-run of the vote - with some deputies suggesting it should be before the June 2009 elections to the EU assembly - met with strong opposition from critics of the treaty.

"You ignore the voters, you are destroying democracy, and you have shown that you will stop at nothing," said Nigel Farage, head of the UK Independence Party, accusing mainstream politicians of creating a "new phenomenon" he termed "EU nationalism", which he went on to characterise as "the most dangerous political phenomenon to have swept Europe since 1945."

His statement was applauded by several eurosceptic deputies, wearing green T-shirts and holding posters urging their colleagues to "Respect the Irish vote."

But their staged protest sparked anger, particularly among some Irish MEPs. Centre-right deputy Avril Doyle commented that support from Britons over respecting the Irish vote was rather late.

"How things could have been different if only our British colleagues had come to this conclusion a century ago."

Brian Crowley, an Irish MEP from the rightist UEN group argued that while Ireland's vote should be respected, "we must also respect the wish of other countries if they want to move forward in the EU integration. It is not up to us to dictate to anybody," he noted.

Some other Irish parliamentarians criticised foreign campaigners from the No camp for distributing "lies" among the Irish voters, including that the Lisbon Treaty would introduce euthanasia or weaken the ban on abortion in the prevailingly Catholic country.

Pro-Europeans have lost passion

Head of the Socialists, German MEP Martin Schultz, said that the events in Ireland show that pro-Europeans have fallen behind in showing support for the EU project.

"Anti-Europe camp has got a soul," he said, adding that what used to be "passion" for Europe at the earlier stages of EU integration has "now emigrated to the other camp."

Mr Barroso blamed national governments for tending to treat Europe and EU institutions as "convenient scapegoats" for negative developments, which he said "leaves fertile grounds for populist policies."

But he defended Irish commissioner Charlie McCreevy who had been criticised by Mr Schulz for widely proclaiming that he had not read the Lisbon treaty.


Mr Barroso said that while he viewed his colleague's comments on his lack of knowledge of Lisbon Treaty as "not particularly fortunate", Mr McCreevy should not be singled out for criticism.

"It would not be a good way to foster a good dialogue with our Irish friends," said Mr Barroso, pointing out that the document was backed by Mr McCreevy's constituency in Ireland, where he personally went to promote it.

[Sub-X]

EU goodwill 'diminished' by 'No' vote - Fahey
http://www.galwayindependent.com/local-news/local-news/eu-goodwill-%27diminished%27-by-%27no%27-vote-%11-fahey/
18 June 2008

EU goodwill towards Ireland will be severely diminished following the country's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

Speaking to the Galway Independent, Deputy Frank Fahey said that there would also be tough times ahead for local farmers, as negotiations over CAP reform were sure to suffer from the outcome of the referendum.

"There will be significant implications from this vote, I would say. The goodwill that we have received so far will be gone and I think it will make negotiations, such as the CAP reforms, much harder. We already had a battle on our hands and now it will be even tougher."

While Galway voters strongly rejected the treaty, Fahey admits to being surprised by the result, as he thought a change in attitude had come about in the days leading up to the vote.

"It was quite a shock. I expected it would fail up until the poll in the Irish Times and I thought there was a change in attitude after that, but obviously I was wrong. But that's democracy and I fully accept the decision of the people, now we have to focus on finding a solution. I think the people voted against this for a number of reasons. They still didn't understand it properly, they voted against government because of other annoyances that they had and the 'No' group ran a very good campaign. That's one of the good things about democracy, it doesn't let the mainstream parties get their way."

With concerns that the Treaty will be presented to the people again, Deputy Fahey the government were going to have to go back to the EU and sort out a number of issues.

"Up to 70 per cent of people in Connemara voted against the treaty because of issues with banning sheep from the mountains and problems with planning permission. These are huge issues and will have to be addressed," he said.

However, Naoise Nunn, Executive Director with anti-Lisbon group Libertas, dismissed Deputy Fahey's assertions that the decision to reject the treaty would leave the country in a weaker position in Europe as "scaremongering".

"We are absolutely thrilled with the result and believe that this is not only a good result for Ireland but also for Europe. I would completely oppose any suggestions that Ireland is now being left behind; we have always played a positive role in Europe and that isn't going to change. This vote signified a revolt against the lack of connection between the EU and the people. There were lots of different groups campaigning against the treaty but we all had one thing in common. All of these groups are against the democratic deficit that is ongoing in Europe and, if this treaty went ahead, it would only serve to copperfasten it. As Europe gets bigger, this is going to become a larger problem, and we are simply calling for democratic accountability.

"There has been a lot of negativity about the situation that we find ourselves in, but I think it is a very exciting time as we are being given an opportunity to stand up for ourselves and develop a more sustainable Europe. It is very hard to say where things will go from here. According to the EU's own rules, the Lisbon Treaty should be dead by now as it hasn't been ratified by all the member states, yet it is still going ahead in other countries. Politics is the art of the possible and I believe that we have a group of highly skilled politicians who can go and negotiate a better deal for us."

[Sub-X]

Lisbon Treaty clear for British ratification
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0618/eulisbon.html
18 June 2008

Legislation to ratify the Lisbon Teaty has passed all its stages in the Westminster parliament following a House of Lords debate this evening.

An attempt by the Conservative party in the House of Lords to delay British ratification until the autumn was defeated.

British ratification of the treaty will be complete when the European Union (Amendment) Bill is signed into law by Queen Elizabeth.

The British government acknowledges that all 27 EU members must ratify the Lisbon Treaty before it comes into force.

It says it will go ahead with its ratification process as planned, despite Ireland's referendum result rejecting the treaty.

The Dáil concluded its debate on the result of the Lisbon Treaty Referendum earlier this evening.

During the debate, Junior Minister Martin Mansergh suggested that the holding of a referendum on each EU Treaty needed to be looked at.

He said the system of holding referendums 'needs to be looked at carefully if we are not continually to be hampered in the future vis-a-vis all other member states'.

He said the Constitution had to be respected but it was with good reason that other European states had chosen to use parliamentary ratification of the Treaty and the ruling party in France had won a mandate to do that last year.

EP backs continuation of ratification

Earlier in the European Parliament, a majority of MEPs backed calls for member states to continue with the treaty ratification process.

It follows calls from the Commission and the Council of Ministers for that process to continue.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen meets his European counterparts in Brussels tomorrow - he will be asking for the time and space for Ireland to consider the Referendum outcome and the reasons for it, both at home and in Europe.

Irish opponents of Lisbon claim the Treaty is dead and a new one should be negotiated, with Sinn Féin producing a list of 17 proposed changes which it says would make a new Treaty acceptable.

Patricia McKenna, chairperson of the anti-Lisbon People's Movement, admitted such negotiations could take years - but at least it would result in a Treaty that would be supported by people all across Europe.

Mr Cowen insisted that last week's No vote was not a rejection of Europe. Speaking at the beginning of the Dáil debate, Mr Cowen said it was too early to fully assess the consequences, adding there was now a period of uncertainty.

He acknowledged that people were concerned about tax harmonisation, an EU common defence policy, and the loss of Ireland's Commissioner for five out of 15 years.

Mr Cowen said he accepted the people's decision, but that the country's future is bound to Europe.

He also pointed out that the referendum result had been welcomed by French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen and by the British eurosceptic UK Independence Party. Mr Cowen said he believed no proud Irish person could be happy that they were rejoicing in the rejection.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said there were serious lessons to be learned, considering that so many of the political parties had urged a Yes vote.

He also warned against Ireland's isolation within Europe.

Protests mark EU Parliament debate

Interruptions and flag waving marked the EU Parliament's debate on the future of the treaty.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty must continue, a view which was echoed by the majority of speakers from the main parties.

However, that call was roundly condemned by the UK Independence Party. Its leader Nigel Farrage said it was a disgusting insult to democracy.

But UKIP and other eurosceptic MEPs were then criticised by the speaker of the house for wearing green t-shirts and holding up banners saying 'Respect the Irish vote'.

They were also criticised by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs.

Brian Crowley said they had disrespected the Irish flag, while Avril Doyle called them a motley crew of British right-wingers who had not shown much respect for Irish voters in the past.

Leader of the socialist group Martin Schulz called for the removal of Charlie McCreevy as Internal Market Commissioner, claiming his dismissive attitude to the Treaty and disrespect for workers' rights had cost votes.

[Sub-X]

Statements by Danish and Swedish movements
http://www.people.ie/english1.html

Following the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by the Irish people, the statements below have been received from the People's Movements of Denmark and Sweden.

Scrap the treaty – or let us have a referendum on it in Denmark
http://www.people.ie/english1.html

“According to the EU’s own rules the renamed EU Constitution is dead after the Irish No. If the EU will not respect this, we must demand a referendum in Denmark,” says Søren Søndergaard, MEP for the People’s Movement in Denmark, congratulating the Irish people on their referendum.

“For the third time the EU constitution project has been rejected in a referendum.In 2005 the peoples of France and the Netherlands voted No. Now the Irish have said a clear No to the slightly re-written constitution,called the Lisbon Treaty. According to the EU’s own rules the treaty is dead,” states Søren Søndergaard, member of the EU parliament for the Danish People’s Movement in Denmark.`

“The EU did not respect that the EU constitution died in 2005. Sadly, there is no reason to think that they will do so this time. If the EU does not halt the ratification process, we must demand an immediate referendum on the treaty in Denmark.

The People’s Movement recommends that you go and congratulate the Irish people outside Ireland’s embassy in Copenhagen, Østergade 21, at 6 P.M. today.

Press release from People’s Movement No to the EU, Sweden
http://www.people.ie/contreaty/se1.pdf

The Swedish people congratulates and is very happy with the Irish people’s impressive vote for a NO in your referendum. The victory is even more impressive as Ireland as the only EU member country has a compelling constitutional right to consult the people, when national rights are challenged. It is also very encouraging that you in your NO-campaign to the Lisbon Treaty resisted all the deceit and lies from the YES-campaign and the superior EU establishment.

In a press release our movement has requested the Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt at the up-coming EU top meeting should declare that the Lisbon Treaty is dead.

However, I am afraid that the manipulations will continue. The Swedish commissionaire Margot Wallström and the EU minister Cecilia Malmström have in media with no respect to the EU Treaties advocated that the ratification process should continue in all the member countries, who still not have ratified the Treaty, in order to marginalise your vote.

In this situation we will continue to demand a referendum, which the Swedish political establishment and the government up to now has refused the Swedish people.

A simple ratification in the Swedish parliament demands a ¾ majority.To get this majority the government is depending of the support from the social democratic party.

Our movement was 25th May the host for an European trade union conference to repeal the European Court of Justice judgments in the Laval, Viking and Ruffert cases. I know that labour right issues were an important part of the NO-campaign and that many trade union on Ireland opted for a NO.

In Sweden the outcome of these three court cases has lead to an intensive debate within the trade unions and the social democratic party. As a first commentary to the Irish vote the chairwoman of the social democratic party Mona Sahlin has expressed a
growing reluctance and inconvenience to ratify the Lisbon Treaty in the parliament,at least without a consultation by the Swedish people.

The EU Committee of the Swedish Parliament will meet on Wednesday to prepare for the EU top meeting, and I will forward this congratulation message to its members.

With my best congratulations
Jan-Erik Gustafsson
Chairman
People’s Movement No to the EU Sweden

[dogmadestroyer]

^^ Both of those countries have an absolutely absurd situation with the EU. I cannot remember the percentage of people in Sweden that want completely out of the EU but its likely higher than 70% still. No referendum..

Denmark has all of these opt outs on their EU membership and slightly more than half want out. Yet their (rumored transvestite) PM keeps trying to jam the Euro down their throat.

Neither country has yet to adopt the Euro and I highly doubt they will.

[Sub-X]

Lets hope they never do 

I would imagine the numbers in the other EU countries that want to opt out of the EU would be similar to that of Sweden and Denmark hence no referendum on the treaty.

[dogmadestroyer]

^^ I'm not so sure about that. Ask a German, Frenchman, Italian, or Finn and more often than not you'll get a mealy mouthed answer rationalizing how good it is for Europe to work together and how they didn't have to change their money when they went skiing in Austria.  Ask a typical Swede (not from Stockholm) and they'll shake their head, say they're glad how much they've resisted the Euro and say how they're worried that it seems they're going down the road to a cashless society. (maybe only some on the cashless society part)

[Sub-X]

TAOISEACH MUST TELL EU LEADERS TO STOP RATIFICATION OF LISBON
http://www.people.ie/press/080618.pdf
June 18, 2008

Taoiseach Brian Cowen must listen not only to his own people but also to his colleagues in Government.The Minister for Health and former PD leader Mary Harney has said she ‘hoped other EU countries would not proceed with the ratification of the treaty as that would leave the Republic completely isolated’.Her analysis is correct and the only way to avoid such a scenario is for Mr Cowen to make it clear to his EU counterparts that Ireland cannot ratify this treaty and it is futile for the remaining countries to proceed. This is exactly what happened when the French and Dutch voted ‘No’ to the precursor to Lisbon, the constitutional treaty. The ratification process stopped because the governments of France and the Netherlands made it clear they could not ratify as their people has said ‘No’. The Irish people deserve no less from their political leaders.

Mr Cowen must align himself with his own people and respect our vote by telling his EU colleagues that Ireland cannot ratify Lisbon so there is no point in the remaining states continuing with their ratifications. He must not, as his predecessor Bertie Ahern did with the Nice Treaty, align himself with the other EU heads of state against the Irish people,and urge them to proceed with their ratifications – indicating to them that Ireland, under pressure,will ratify Lisbon when everyone else has done so.Threats that the EU can proceed without us are unfounded;they need our consent to do so. Even the claim that they can do so under enhanced cooperation provisions is wrong as this only applies to the provisions of the Nice Treaty, and only to the areas where the use of Enhanced Cooperation is allowed.

There is no possibility of 26 countries agreeing to isolate Ireland unless Mr Cowen gives the other EU heads of government the signal that they can do so.

Mr Cowen will be the only head of government at the EU summit with a direct democratic mandate on the Lisbon treaty.None of the others consulted their people on this treaty.Many EU leaders have admitted that they are afraid of what their own people would say if they were asked.

They need to face their fear and ask themselves what kind of EU do our people want and how can we best provide them with it?`

That is the key to solving this dilemma.Reconsider what is necessary to reinstate the EU/EC in people's mind as a project people feel good about. This should be the demand that Brian Cowen brings to Brussels. He has nothing to be defensive about. His colleagues in Ireland – namely the voters – expect him to tell his colleagues at the summit that Lisbon is not the answer to what ails the organisation.The Laeken Declaration signed by all heads of government in December 2001 recognised this gap and promised to deal with it.Brian Cowen needs to remind them of that promise.He would be doing them a favour.

If the changes in the treaty are so important to the 27 countries, and we believe they are,then the consent of the people should be obtained.The people of Ireland came to the same view as the people of France and the Netherlands did on the precursor to Lisbon.The Irish people have widespread support from citizens across the EU.Campaigners against the Lisbon Treaty, particularly in France and the Netherlands,see the Irish ‘No’vote as an opportunity for real reform and want the ratification process on this twice-rejected proposal to stop.

International author and social justice campaigner Susan George,speaking on behalf of ATTAC France,has said‘There is none more deaf than those who refuse to hear.You have a mouth to dictate to us but no ears to listen to the needs and requests of European citizens who demand a democratic Europe every time they are given the opportunity.You fear public opinion – and rightly so for it rejects you’.

The first time around, Gunter Verheugen, Vice-President of the EU Commission, said:‘Europe should not succumb to blackmail’ – the views of the people.This time around,President José Manuel Barroso advised the various member states ‘to continue with the process of ratification’! This is indeed blackmail and displays contempt for the democraticprocess.EU leaders appear ready to disregard their own rules and regulations instead of accepting the messages sent to them by their people.

[Sub-X]

Cowen Must Now Argue for Plan B
http://www.caeuc.org/index.php?q=node/338
Mary Lou McDonald MEP
Irish Times – 18th June 2008

The people have spoken. The Lisbon Treaty is dead. Now it’s time for Plan B.

While some advocates of the Treaty have attempted to castigate the electorate for rejecting the treaty, more reasonable voices have called it right. There is no crisis. Ireland will not be thrown out of the European Union. In fact Ireland will continue to be at the heart of the EU. And crucially, the political leaders of the 27 member states are indicating that it's time for to listen, reflect and engage.
How these sentiments are compatible with continuing with the ratification process is hard to square. When the French and Dutch rejected the EU Constitution in 2005, the ratification process was brought to an end. And so it should be with Lisbon.

More importantly the government needs to send a clear signal to the electorate that, not withstanding their own support for the treaty, they will now argue for a completely new treaty, reflective of the core concerns that provoked almost one million people to reject the Lisbon treaty last Thursday.

Throughout the campaign I and my colleagues in Sinn Féin argued that the Lisbon Treaty was a bad deal and that a better deal was possible. Our confidence was based not only on our own detailed analysis of the Treaty but also in the fact that in 2005, two of the founding members of the European Union, France and the Netherlands, rejected the same package of proposals.Specifically we focused on three sets of concerns.

We argued that the Lisbon Treaty would deepen the democratic deficit. It would do so by removing Irelands permanent commissioner, reducing our voting strength at council, removing or weakening a number of key strategic vetoes, such as on taxation and international trade and by giving the European Council the power to amend the fundamental laws of the Union. That the Treaty was written and presented in an unintelligible form added an information deficit to the democratic deficit.

On the issues of militarisation we argued that in addition to taking the EU further down the road of developing common foreign and defence policies, these policies would promote militarisation and in turn undermine this states neutrality.We were also deeply worried that the Lisbon Treaty was designed to further open up vital public services such as health and education to competition and in turn privatisation. This liberalising drive would have been complimented by the removal of key vetoes on the inclusion of health, education and social services in international trade agreements.

Sinn Féin also expressed deep disappointment with the failure of the drafters of the Lisbon Treaty to address issues of workers rights and the continuing trend towards social dumping aided and abetted by the European Court of Justice.In addition to these key areas we also highlighted issues such as the negative impact of the treaty on the developing world and Irelands continued involvement in the European Atomic Energy Community.

The campaign is now over and the verdict is clear. I welcome both Fine Gael and Labour’s commitment not to seek a second referendum on Lisbon. I call on the government to do likewise.

However the most important task now is to ensure that the better deal that the people voted for is secured. While the primary responsibility in this effort lies with the government, there is a responsibility on those of us who argued against the treaty to outline in detail what we believe such a deal would consist of. We must also support the government in achieving the best possible outcome of any future negotiations.I would also encourage all sectors, whatever their position on the treaty, to grasp this opportunity and work with the rest of us.

Today Sinn Fein submitted to the Irish government a detailed position paper outlining proposed changes to the Lisbon Treaty. Among these changes we are arguing for:

∑ The retention of a permanent Commissioner for all member states
∑ The retention of the Nice Treaty formulae for qualified majority voting
∑ The removal of all 8 self-amending articles including the simplified revision procedure in Article 48
∑ The removal of Article 46a giving the EU a single legal personality
∑ A strengthened protocol on the role of member state parliaments
∑ A significantly expanded protocol on the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality including the aims and values of the EU
∑ Substantial amendments to aspects of the Common Foreign and Security Policy
∑ Substantial amendments to the section of Common Defence and Security Policy
∑ A new protocol on neutrality
∑ A strengthened social clause
∑ A substantially revised protocol on vital public services
∑ Amendments to articles dealing with public services and state aid
∑ The inclusion of the European Trade Union Confederation Social Progress Clause to protect workers rights
∑ A protocol on Irish tax sovereignty
∑ Substantial amendments on Article 188 dealing with international trade agreements including a cast iron veto on mixed World Trade Organisation agreements
∑ A new protocol ending Irelands participation in the European Atomic Energy Community
∑ A series of amendments to Articles 10 and 188 promoting the needs of the developing world in the context of international trade

Sinn Féin’s agenda for the future of the EU is much broader and deeper than this list of demands. These are, in our opinion, modest and achievable. They represent both the detail of the better deal we argued for during the referendum campaign and what we believe to be the minimum changes required for any new treaty to be acceptable to the electorate.

Of course the government will say that this list is too ambitious, too detailed and undeliverable. However already we are hearing from a range of voices across the EU, in governments, opposition parties and social movements, supporting some or all of the above. Smaller member states are interested in our proposals on the Commission and Council. Trade unions and social movements are supportive of our position on workers rights and public services. And peace organisations and anti-war movements are ready to mobilise on those issues that resonate with them.

The question is whether the Irish government has the political will and courage to give voice to the concerns of the electorate as expressed in last weeks referendum.

Politics is the art of the possible. When entering any negotiation one must be both ambitious and realistic. Crucially you must gather around you as much support as you can, both domestically and in other member states, to secure the most advantageous outcome.
Sinn Féin is ready to play our part in a constructive manner. We believe that many others are willing to do likewise. Now all eyes are on the government. Will they listen to the will of the people and work to secure a better deal both for Ireland and the European Union? Or will they collude with those political forces across the European Union who seem unwilling to respect the outcome of referenda in Ireland, France and the Netherlands?

The first option will strengthen Ireland, our place in the EU and the Union itself. The second option will deal yet another blow to the democratic credibility of an already faltering European Union.
 
Sinn Fein’s full submission to the Irish government is available at http://www.no2lisbon.ie/

[KiwiClare]

Quislings Ratify Lisbon Treaty .........
http://www.thelabourparty.org/lisbon_treaty_uk_ratify.htm
Stewart Cowan, 19/6/08

The European Union (Amendment) Bill finished its passage through Parliament yesterday to see Britain become the nineteenth country to ratify the Lisbon Treaty without a referendum.

Conservative peers tried to delay approval of the Treaty for four months, but they lost in the House of Lords by 93 votes after Liberal Democrats voted with the Government.

A few pro-referendum protesters were ejected from the public gallery. How dare they ask the Government to keep its promise.

The treachery will be formalised later today when the Queen signs the Bill into law in Norman French. In her Coronation Oath, she promised to "cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all [her] judgements."

I know it was a long time ago, but someone should politely remind her of her oath so she can cause her Government to give the people the promised referendum.

And I am sure that the 'Law and Justice' that she promised to uphold was not meant to include legislation foisted on us by foreign powers with the ample aid of British traitors.

How times have changed!

All 27 EU member countries, or 'states' as they seem to be conditioning us to say, need to ratify the Treaty for its ultimate success and with the significance of the Irish 'No' vote last week being devalued by many, the hope for its demise appears to rest with the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic.

Europe is full of Quislings manipulating the people into giving up their sovereignty and freedom. Some politicians will even be going along with the charade in the belief that it is the best way to ensure peace and prosperity.

There can never be either in a totalitarian bloc.

We have to unleash the power we all have to save our country from tyranny, because this is the real thing being engineered and it is now or never to stop it.

[Femacamper]

Ireland must withdraw from the EU to retain its sovereignty.

[Sub-X]

Ireland must withdraw from the EU to retain its sovereignty.

Your not wrong there Fema,but if we even hinted to opt out,we would be reminded what a bad,selfish child we are, after all they blah blah blah 

Cowen plays for time
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cowen-plays-for-time-1414645.html
19 June 2008

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen will today resist pressure from EU leaders to set out an immediate plan and timeframe to resolve the crisis caused by Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.

Mr Cowen will instead make a desperate plea for more time as EU leaders grill him on the Government's plans to resolve the impasse at an EU summit in Brussels this evening.

The Taoiseach will say any calls for an immediate timeframe to rescue the treaty are simply not realistic.

Government sources said last night Mr Cowen would not be able to indicate when or how he intended to repair the damage caused by Ireland's 'No' vote.

"The Taoiseach's objective will be to attempt to explain the range and the variety of issues raised on the 'No' side in the referendum.

And we need a significant amount of time simply to get through this.

"The least helpful thing would be to impose some arbitrary timescale," a government source told the Irish Independent.

However, Mr Cowen's play for more time may be greeted with growing impatience as the fallout from Ireland's 'No' vote continues to divide opinion across Europe.

The Government's view is that it is far too early to rule in or out any options. They quite literally don't know what the answers are going to be and how long it will take.

Mr Cowen will ask to be given time to consult -- both at home and abroad -- on the outcome of the referendum.

There is a growing feeling within European circles that a binding document will be put together, giving Ireland assurances on the issues of abortion, corporation tax and neutrality. This would then be combined with the original treaty and put to a new referendum in this country. There may also be some movement on the allocation of European commissioners, to assuage the Irish voters' fears on this matter.

Although the Government is not ruling out a second referendum, it is still insisting the present scenario is different to the Nice Treaty referendum in 2002, which was put to the people a second time.

The Irish referendum result is the primary item on today's summit agenda. The Taoiseach will give his initial assessment of the outcome and its implications and hear other member states' initial reactions.

Response

Mr Cowen will get a face-to-face response from leaders, including French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel, at the summit.

He will also hold special meetings with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering, and current president of the European Council, Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa.

Adding to the pressure on Mr Cowen, Mr Poettering says the ratification process must continue.

But writing in today's Irish Independent, Mr Poettering also says he expects to see details of Irish plans.

Meanwhile, the sacking of European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy was demanded over his comments about not reading the Lisbon Treaty.

The leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, of which Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa is a member, called for Mr McCreevy to be removed as Internal Market Commissioner.

Martin Schulz blamed some of the 'No' vote on Mr McCreevy's free market policies and statements about "how no sane people would read the treaty".

Britain last night cleared the final hurdle of the race to complete its ratification of the EU reform treaty.