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

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I appreciate you keeping us in the loop. Not a widely discussed issue, but a very important one. We're talking about an entire country and its people's mindset towards jumping on the global dictatorship bandwagon... or not.

Partly this was my intentioned to have the information here because I believe this will go somewhat towards explaing the blueprint of establishing the NAU in the future being formed and justified.If there was ever a nation more proud of their constitution its you guys,and not unlike our own constitution its well worth fighting for in the name of ourselves as citizens and free ones at that.

No matter where we are it is happening around us and only we can prevent it from happening,the power will soon be in out hands and I brace the task that stands before us in the name of freedom and ones individuals rights in face of adversity. 

[Freeski]

Partly this was my intentioned to have the information here because I believe this will go somewhat towards explaing the blueprint of establishing the NAU in the future being formed and justified.If there was ever a nation more proud of their constitution its you guys,and not unlike our own constitution its well worth fighting for in the name of ourselves as citizens and free ones at that.

No matter where we are it is happening around us and only we can prevent it from happening,the power will soon be in out hands and I brace the task that stands before us in the name of freedom and ones individuals rights in face of adversity. 

Good on you brother!

One thing, though, is that it's BS to say that Canadians are patriotic. They go raw raw but they haven't a clue of what's actually going on. We need more awake Canucks, Irishmen and Yankees! (and Lithuanians) http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=107057.0

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Czech ODS leader considers EU treaty dead, yet wishes it ratified
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/czech-ods-leader-considers-eu-treaty-dead-yet-wishes-it-ratified/379920
31 May 2009

Prague - Former Czech prime minister and Civic Democrat (ODS) chairman Mirek Topolanek would like the Lisbon treaty to be ratified even though he labeled it "dead" on Saturday, he said on the Czech Television (CT) discussion programme Questions of Vaclav Moravec today.

Topolanek told the congress of the Polish conservative party Law and Justice (PiS) on May 30 that the Lisbon treaty is dead and does not correspond to the reality of the 21st century.

Topolanek pointed out on CT that the Lisbon treaty does not seem to deal with the problematic issues related to the EU's future, like further EU enlargement, Russia's assertive politics, terrorism and the economic crisis.

"The whole project is threatened," he said about the EU.

Topolanek said the Czech Republic would move to the EU's outskirts if it did not ratify the treaty.

He said the treaty's ratification is an acceptable price for the country in exchange for common EU rules.

Greens chairman Martin Bursik said he was surprised and shocked by Topolanek's statement about the EU treaty being dead.

Bursik pointed out that Topolanek was the head of the Czech EU presidency for the first four months of the year.

He also expressed disappointment over the ODS's alliance with Polish Law and Justice.

Topolanek dismissed the criticism, arguing that his address at the PiS congress in Warsaw was misinterpreted.

Social Democrat (CSSD) leader Jiri Paroubek who also took part in the CT discussion programme said he shared Bursik's criticism of Topolanek.

The only country to reject the Lisbon treaty is Ireland that is likely to take a repeated vote on it in a referendum in the autumn.

However, the presidents of the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland have not yet signed the treaty after it was passed by the parliaments of the three countries.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus said he would wait for the Constitutional Court to decide on a complaint against the Lisbon treaty that is yet to be filed by a group of ODS senators.

Neither Topolanek nor Paroubek challenged Klaus's right to postpone the signing of the treaty.

Constitutional Court (US) chairman Pavel Rychetsky said he believes Klaus should have either immediately signed the document or he should have filed his own complaint against it.

Rychetsky told CT that he would accept if Klaus stated that he would postpone his possible signature for two or three weeks to wait and see whether the complaint by ODS senators would be filed with the US.

Senator Jiri Oberfalzer (ODS), one of the authors of the planned complaint, said two weeks ago that the complaint would be completed within two months.

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Europe's desperate bid to bring out voters
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gckB0GQbLxJ_6gb0EuuKC_VmRGWQ
31 May 2009

BRUSSELS (AFP) — European leaders on Sunday stepped up a desperate battle to persuade people to vote for the EU parliament this week, but the campaign has opened up new political divisions across the continent.

With polls indicating a record low turnout for the June 4-7 election, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint plea to voters, saying a strong parliament was essential to confront the economic crisis.

The two leaders said they want "a strong Europe that protects" its people and called for "all Europeans to vote" in the statement, published by the Journal du Dimanche newspaper in France and Die Welt am Sonntag in Germany.

A "strong Europe does not necessarily mean more powers for the European Union, even more European legislation or even more financial means," said Merkel and Sarkozy.

First steps "to assure real European regulation in the financial sector, based on coordination and cooperation between regulators" should be taken at the next EU summit in June, they said.

"For speculative funds, tax havens, payment for executives and financial traders, we want an exemplary Europe," they added.

The pair also gave strong backing to the Lisbon reform treaty, intended to streamline EU decision-making but deadlocked by Ireland's rejection in a referendum last year.

"Europe must play a leading role in the world. For that, it must have efficient institutions. That is why we need the Lisbon Treaty," they said.

Merkel and Sarkozy also reaffirmed opposition to Turkey joining the EU, without naming the country. "To be able to act, the EU needs frontiers. Unlimited enlargement is not possible."

The joint statement highlighted fears that the vote for the 736 member European assembly could prove a new embarrassment for the 27-nation European Union, after a record 45 percent abstention at the last election in 2004.

In France, a poll for the Le Parisien newspaper Sunday suggested that 55 percent of the nation's would not bother going to the polls. In Britain, Poland and Romania, fewer than one in three plan to vote, according to recent surveys.

In Spain, which has benefited enormously from EU development funds, political analysts expect turnout of 40 percent at best. Portugal expects a record abstention rate.

The stakes are higher now, however, as the European Parliament -- the only directly elected EU institution -- will have a bigger voice in decisions that affect 500 million Europeans if the Lisbon treaty comes into force.

"A lot of voters don't understand what the European Parliament does," said Philip White, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank in London.

"You're not voting to keep a government in office or kick it out. The stakes can seem a little bit less clear than they are in national elections."

But in many countries the EU vote will be a test of the national governments in power, with far-right and left-wing parties expected to benefit from protest votes and low turnouts in some member states.

In Britain, where euroscepticism runs deep, the governing Labour Party is expected to garner only 16 to 17 percent of the vote, putting it in third place against the rival Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, weekend polls in the Times and Sunday Telegraph suggested.

Turnout at European elections in Britain is usually low -- in the last polls in 2004, it was just 38 percent, and this time, fringe parties like the anti-EU UK Independence Party and the far-right British National Party are expected to benefit.

An Economist magazine/YouGov poll last week found that only 31 percent of Britons think its membership of the European Union is a good thing, compared to 37 percent who think it is bad.

The leader of the main opposition Conservatives, David Cameron, has opened up new divisions in Europe by saying he would withdraw his party from the main centre-right bloc in the EU parliament, the European People's Party (EPP), and join a new eurosceptic alliance with Czech and Polish parties.

The EPP is still expected to remain the biggest single party in the parliament, which already has a key role approving the EU budget and passing laws on a wide range of issues.

The parliament will also endorse the new president of the European Commission after a nomination is made by the EU summit. Jose Manuel Barroso, the conservative former Portuguese prime minister, is widely expected to get a second term.

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If the EU seems intent on a putsch then UKIP should give it a shove
London Telegraph
31 May 2009

The European Union has slipped the leash of democratic control. It is one thing to advance the Monnet Project by treaty creep and stealth directives. It is another to put questions of sovereignty to a popular vote and then refuse to abide by the outcome.

Europe's elites have crossed a political line by reviving the EU Constitution under the guise of the Lisbon Treaty and ramming it through without referendums, after it had already been rejected by French and Dutch voters.

To continue a second time after rejection by the Irish – alone in voting – amounts to a putsch.

Without rehashing the Lisbon debate, remember that this text transforms the European Court (ECJ) into a fully-fledged supreme court, with jurisdiction over the rights charter and the broad reach of "Union Law" rather than just the narrow (Pillar 1) fiefdom of commercial law it holds today. This is a quantum leap.

Euro-judges will have the last say on areas of social policy, macro-economics, home affairs, justice, and arguably diplomacy.

I might add – apologies to law professors – that the crude difference between core Europe and Britain/Ireland is that Napoleonic law forbids unless specifically allowed, while Common Law allows unless specifically forbidden. This is the legal foundation of Anglo-Saxon scientific and commercial creativity, and perhaps the reason democracy has bedded better in the Anglo-sphere.

It is obvious that a text creating a full-time EU president and an EU justice department, and which gives Euro-MPs power of the purse for the first time, is an attempt to establish a unitary state. This is no longer a treaty club.

Personally, I will register my protest by voting for the UKIP, knowing that the number two on their list in my South East region is Marta Andreasen – sacked as the Commission's chief accountant for calling the EU budget "an open till waiting to be robbed". A strong showing for UKIP should be enough to put her on to the EU's Budget Control Committee, where she can exact revenge for all of us.

We know from an internal memo by the head of the Internal Audit Service what was done to her. "I would for no money have wanted to be in Ms Andreasen's shoes," it said, "recognising the unforgiving inclination of a bureaucracy once one is declared taboo by the powers that be, considering the collective firepower it can marshal to trash an individual singled out."

The Budget Directorate was in "persistent denial of the real nature and depth of problems". It had failed to sort out the "chronically sordid state of quality accounting", and rewarded staff if "they managed not to discover financial malfeasance". As the memo admitted, the EU relies on an intimidation culture where "might makes right".

So Marta has my vote. It is a nice twist that UKIP has enlisted a Catalan-Argentine, albeit one educated at an English girls school in Buenos Aires.

Yes, our own Parliament is mired in squalor too, but the expense scams of MPs have at least been brought to light, and the worst offenders are being driven from the Commons. We have democratic catharsis.

Nothing is ever really exposed in the EU system, where press coverage is tribal, and segmented by languages. MEP expense abuse runs even deeper, and involves greater sums. An Open Europe study found that MEPs garner £363,000 in expenses, including a £261 daily subsistence allowance and £45,648 in office cash (no receipts needed), and £41,641 in "transitional" payments. A quarter employ spouses as aides.

Nordics, Balts, and Club Meds can make a tidy sum booking travel at business rates per mile but flying discount, though this is at last being reformed. Jens Holm, a Swedish Left Party MEP, said that he been receiving €2,000 for each fare from Stockholm to Brussels though it costs €500. He gives away the difference. "The vast majority keep the money for themselves," he said.

There are different kinds of Eurosceptics. Some think the EU has been a Vichy stitch-up from the start. That is not my view. The Project was a triumph of joint US and European statecraft in the early days, bringing Germany back into the fold to help contain Soviet power.

Nor do I think that British membership has been wholly bad. The Single European Act, signed in 1986, owed as much to Margaret Thatcher as any other leader, and the EU's Competition Directorate is the spearhead of free market ideology – which is why France's Nicolas Sarkozy went to such lengths to the gut the competition clause in the Lisbon Treaty.

The risk of leaving in a petulant fit is that Holland, Denmark, Poland and others often on our side in an evenly-balanced power structure will tuck in behind the Franco-German axis, causing Europe to become what we wish to avoid. But geo-strategic sophistry leads to paralysis in the end.

Lisbon is not yet EU law. Irish voters may balk again, but it would take a brave nation to persist in defiance as they succumb to savage (EMU-induced) debt deflation.

Sadly, I think we must start planning to extract ourselves as gracefully as we can from this Project before it has the chance to abolish referendums for ever.

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Support for Lisbon Treaty increases to 54%
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0601/1224247818463.html
1 June 2009

SUPPORT FOR the Lisbon Treaty has hardened over the past two weeks, according to the Irish Times /TNS mrbi poll which shows the Yes side maintaining a consistent lead since the beginning of this year.

The poll shows that 54 per cent would now vote Yes, an increase of two points since the last Irish Times poll two weeks ago, with 28 per cent saying they would vote No, a drop of one point. The number of people in the “Don’t Know” category has dropped by one point to 18 per cent.

When undecided voters are excluded, the Yes side has 66 per cent, with 34 per cent in the No camp. That compares to the referendum result last June of 53.4 per cent No and 46.6 per cent Yes.

The three Irish Times polls since the beginning of 2009 have given a remarkably consistent result on the Lisbon Treaty with a marginal increase in the Yes vote in each poll and a steady decline in support for the No campaign.

A second referendum on the Treaty expected in the autumn but the polls indicate that if the Government and main Opposition parties had been prepared to go to the country on the issue in the first half of the year the Yes side would have carried the day.

In the latest poll voters were asked how they would vote in the light of the commitment to allow Ireland to retain a European Union commissioner along with legal guarantees on other Irish concerns about neutrality, abortion and taxation.

Voters were also asked if, in the light of the current economic crisis, they thought it was better to be part of the EU. A substantial 81 per cent thought it better to be part of the EU, (up 2 points since the last poll) 10 per cent thought it was not (no change) and 9 per cent had no opinion (down 2 points). The poll was conducted between Tuesday and Thursday of last week, among a representative sample of 2,000 voters in face-to-face interviews at 200 sampling points in all 43 constituencies. The margin of error is 2 per cent.

Fianna Fáil voters are the most enthusiastic supporters of the treaty by a margin of 66 per cent to 20 per cent. Among Fine Gael voters there is also sold backing by a margin of 62 per cent to 24 per cent and there is also strong support among the Greens with 61 per cent in favour and 25 per cent in the No camp.

Labour Party voters are more enthusiastic than in the last poll with 59 per cent saying they would vote Yes and 27 per cent No.

Sinn Féin are the only party whose supporters still back the No campaign with 57 per cent against and 24 per cent in favour.

Despite the hardening of the Yes vote women are still decidedly less enthusiastic then men about Lisbon but a significant proportion have moved from the No side into the Don’t know category.

Among men, the Yes side commands the support of 59 per cent with 26 per cent No and 15 per cent Don’t Know. Among women, support for the Yes side drops to 50 per cent with 29 per cent Don’t Know and 21 per cent undecided. In class terms there is now overwhelming support for Lisbon among the better-off AB voters, with 71 per cent in favour and only 16 per cent No.

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Cameron demands Lisbon referendum
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8078637.stm
2 June 2009

The Conservatives will not let the government "off the hook" on the European constitution, Tory leader David Cameron has insisted.

A bill tabled by Mr Cameron would allow for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

He promised a referendum if he took office before all EU states ratified it, but declined to say what he would do if this happened before a Tory win.

The public could "pile the pressure" for a public vote by electing Conservative MEPs, he told the BBC.

Ratification process

Under the bill introduced by the Conservatives, a referendum would be held on the same day that the Republic of Ireland voted for the second time on whether or not to ratify.

The treaty was ratified by the UK in June 2008, but it does not come into force until it has been approved by all member states.

As well as the Irish referendum in the autumn, the Czech Republic and Poland have yet to confirm ratification.

Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that too much power would pass from London to Brussels under the treaty, and promised he would "not let matters rest" if elected.

But he would not be drawn on what he would do if he arrived in Downing Street after all EU states had completed the ratification process.

"I don't want to go into every last detail of what happens if a series of things happen - if there isn't an early election, if the Irish vote yes in a second referendum, if the Poles decide to ratify this treaty, if the Czechs decide to ratify," said Mr Cameron.

"I know that, of course, my opponents would love me to focus on what happens if all these things happen, but I am not going to do that.

"On Thursday, people can go into those voting booths, vote Conservative and pile the pressure on Gordon Brown to hold a referendum. I don't want to let him off the hook."

Committed

Mr Cameron added that the Conservatives believed in British membership of the EU, but wanted it to be about trade and co-operation "rather than this endless process of building a super state".

He also repeated his commitment to withdrawing the Conservatives from the European Parliament's European People's Party (EPP) and setting up a new centre-right bloc.

Former Tory cabinet ministers and European commissioners Lord Brittan and Lord Patten have strongly criticised the decision, which they say will reduce the Conservatives' influence.

But Mr Cameron said he had held talks with the Czech Civil Democrats and Poland's Law and Justice Party - both parties of government - and said the new group would better represent the UK's interests in Europe.

"It will bring to European politics a centre-right group of parties that are committed to reform in Europe and change in Europe - it won't just be the British Conservatives, it'll be other parties as well," Mr Cameron said.

[Freeski]

Isn't there scheduled date - like in the fall?

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Isn't there scheduled date - like in the fall?

Yeah it was meant to be tomorrow with the european and local elections but they are hold off until August.

Bob Crow: Let’s face down the Lisbon Treaty
http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2009/06/04/bob-crow-let%E2%80%99s-face-down-the-lisbon-treaty/
4 June 2009

Bob Crow argues that the European elections are an opportunity to register a protest against privatisation

SINCE No2EU – Yes to Democracy was launched, the European Commission has given the green light to privatise the British end of Eurostar and the European Parliament has voted to “liberalise” healthcare across the European Union. These two events alone reveal the EU’s obsession with imposing discredited free market dogma on our public services.

The EU has approved the use of £5.2 billion of public money to pay off the debt of Eurostar in order to sell it off.  Yet no one asked the British taxpayers if they wanted their cash to be used, in the middle of a dire economic recession, to fatten up Eurostar in order to make it attractive to a private buyer. Nor were the public asked if they supported EU’s Health Services Directive which paves the way for private companies to take over the national health service.

Even more shocking is the fact that the directive, which represents the biggest threat to the National Health Service since it was set up in 1948, was rubber-stamped by MEPs because the Party of the European Socialists abstained.

Labour MP Gisela Stuart was quoted shortly afterwards as saying: “I bet you my wages that in 10 to 15 years, if this directive goes through, we cannot have a generally tax-funded NHS system.”

She knows what she is talking about, as she was one of those who helped to draw up the original EU constitution. She also described the renaming of the constitution as the Lisbon Treaty and the pretence that it was a different document as a “deeply dishonest process”.

The Lisbon Treaty still turns the EU into an anti-democratic state in its own right and abolishes the national veto – our right to say “No” in 61 areas and over issues such as energy, health and foreign policy.  It also imposes outdated neo-liberal economic policies onto member states that have already decimated public services and led to an orgy of privatisation. Whether or not you support the treaty, it is clear that it changes the way we are governed. People deserve to be asked first.

The Irish were not fooled by the name change from constitution to Lisbon and voted to reject it last June. Yet that result has been ignored and Ireland is to be forced to vote again by October.

The British Government also made a manifesto pledge to give us a referendum on the issue and has reneged on it.

We believe that it unfair that the Irish get to vote twice, while we don’t get a chance to vote on it at all. Therefore, No2EU is calling on everyone who supports democracy and public services to turn out and vote on June 4 for our candidates, who are standing in every region of Britain. We are standing on a clear platform of opposition to the Lisbon Treaty.

Bob Crow is convenor of No2EU – Yes to Democracy and general secretary of the RMT.

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Don't be frightened into treaty 'Yes' vote
Irish Independent
4 June 2009

Last night, I counted the expression "at the heart of Europe" 22 times in a single radio programme.

What was interesting was that it was used by different political parties, but all of whom are frantic for you to vote 'Yes' to the Lisbon Treaty. Like so much other doublespeak, half-truths and outright nonsense that our politicians spew out, the heart of Europe expression is meaningless.

Just like Bertie Ahern's utterances, it says everything and it says nothing. It can sound grand and meaningful if you want it to. On the other hand, you can also be accused of being totally naive if your vision of it doesn't manifest itself.

It is plausibly credible and plausibly deniable at the same time, because like the treaty itself, it is what the politicians decide it will be.

And typical of the usual double dealing and dishonesty, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin is painting this as a new Lisbon Treaty with cast-iron safeguards built in to allay Irish concerns.

On the basis of this, he declares that our being forced to vote again is an example of good democracy in action, because, in effect, this is a new treaty.

Well, it isn't. It is exactly the same treaty that we rejected earlier.

Not one article of the treaty has been changed. There is no new version of it available for you to read. If you want to find out what you are voting for, you will discover that it is the same document you looked at the last time.

Perhaps Mr Martin got some sort of verbal undertaking from his peers in Brussels. If so, I suggest that it's not worth the paper it's written on.

The treaty was wrong the first time around and it is still so. From the RedC poll, it appears our politicians are doing a good job frightening you into voting 'Yes'. Of course, they have also done a good job of cleaning you out to protect their wealthy supporters.

What I would like to see would be a motto that says, "at the heart of honesty and accountability", beginning at home.

So, if you are not sure which motto you would support, play it safe and vote 'No'. If our eager representatives don't get their way, they might be frightened into exploring a bit of honesty and accountability.

John Mallon Mayfield, Co Cork

 

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Irish premier hopes voters will not punish Fianna Fáil
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8778ad36-5168-11de-84c3-00144feabdc0.html
5 June 2009

Brian Cowen, the embattled Irish prime minister, is gambling that growing public support for the Lisbon treaty will discourage voters from using today's European parliament elections to punish the Fianna Fáil-led government.

Polls suggest that in spite of rejecting the treaty in a referendum last year most Irish voters are now in favour of the document, which seeks to reform the way that EU institutions are run.

Dublin is expected to put the treaty to voters again in October. Mr Cowen used Fianna Fáil's concluding press conference of the campaign to warn that a vote for anti-Lisbon parties today would "send exactly the wrong signal" at a time when Ireland is looking to European support in managing its economic crisis.

Polls suggest voter anger over the economy could see Fianna Fáil slip to third in national share of the vote behind Fine Gael, the conservative opposition party and Labour.

Ireland, the only one of the 27-member bloc to have held a referendum on Lisbon, overwhelmingly rejec-ted the treaty, thwarting Brussels' ambitions to build a more closely integrated Europe.

Voters said they feared Ireland would lose its influence in an enlarged union and its traditional neutral stance in defence matters, its anti-abortion laws and low-tax business model would be under threat. Under pressure from EU partners, Mr Cowen agreed to re-run the vote after securing guarantees, including the right to keep Ireland's commissioner.

But it is the precipitous collapse of the economy which appears to have shifted public support behind the treaty. A poll in the Irish Times last week suggested that 54 per cent of those who said they intend to vote in the re-run referendum, now back Lisbon.

Mr Cowen hopes to harness this pro-European vote to limit what party officials acknowledge will be a backlash against Fianna-Fáil in today's election.

Mr Cowen said "one doesn't need to be reminded that the government is not popular". He said the need for tax increases and cuts in public spending, as well as taxpayer-funded bail-outs of banks was a "tough message against a background of 12 years of unprecedented growth".

Garret FitzGerald, a former Fine Gael leader, said it was so important to restore Ireland's proEuropean credentials that Fine Gael supporters should even consider giving their second or third preferences to Fianna Fáil rather than backing anti-Lisbon candidates. The main beneficiaries of Fianna Fáil's difficulties look set to be Eamon Gilmore's Labour party.

[Freeski]

This is just so creepy. It's like an onion, with layers and layers and layers of deception and subversion.

[Sub-X]

Ah I stand corrected they have now decided now October though this could change again 

Brussels alarmed at risk to Lisbon reforms
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5491ba16-5168-11de-84c3-00144feabdc0.html
5 June 2009

Concerns are growing in Brussels that political difficulties for Gordon Browncould jeopardise prospects for the European Union's Lisbon reform treaty.

With polls suggesting that the Conservatives are likely to win the next general election, officials in Brussels are worried that Tory leaders have left open the possibility of a referendum on Lisbon even if all 27 EU countries have ratified the document.

European governments are following events in London closely, with Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, acknowledging yesterday that Mr Brown's government "faces the risk of collapse".

France is concerned that the prime minister's problems will hinder moves towards harmonising financial regulation across Europe.

The Lisbon treaty is due to come into effect in January, so long as Irish voters approve it in a referendum expected in October and the presidents of the Czech Republic and Poland complete their countries' ratification by signing up before the end of this year.

The Conservative party abhors the treaty, denouncing it as an unacceptable transfer of national powers to EU institutions.

The widespread assumption in Brussels is that British voters would reject the treaty, as did Ireland in a referendum 12 months ago which threw the EU into institutional chaos.

If Britain went ahead with a referendum, officials in Brussels fear that the EU would see a repetition of the debilitating political warfare between the UK and other EU governments and institutions that characterised much of the last period of Conservative government.

Just as bad, the EU would be sucked into a new round of obscure debates over institutional reforms that have dragged on for eight years and damaged the EU's image in the eyes of many of its 500m citizens.

In Paris, diplomats insist that Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is still keen to work with Mr Brown. But officials acknowledge that Mr Sarkozy became frustrated with the prime minister's perceived foot-dragging over financial regulation in the run-up to April's G20 summit in London.

Officials now fear that a debilitated Mr Brown has reverted to a conventional British position of defending the City of London at all costs. There is a danger of a clash between the two leaders over plans to harmonise financial supervision in Europe at an EU summit this month.

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Dutch anti-Islamic party makes gains in EU poll
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hoNI68OILTuE9dtr4C7jjK7yslbg
5 June 2009

BRUSSELS (AFP) — EU parliamentary elections hit turbulence Friday after prematurely published Dutch results confirmed fears of voter apathy and extremist gains and Britain's prime minister sought damage control.

As the world's biggest transnational vote gathered pace, with Czech and Irish voters going to the polls on day two, embattled British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was already licking his wounds.

A shell-shocked Brown reshuffled his cabinet and said his party had suffered a "painful defeat" after British voters cast their ballots on Thursday in both EU and local elections.

While he gave no indication of exactly how badly Labour had fared in the European polls, a pre-vote survey predicted the ruling party would finish third or fourth behind the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and maybe even the fringe anti-EU UK Independence Party.

Brown stressed that he "will not walk away" from his post, even though that's exactly what some Labour colleagues were advising as his support collapses.

If he does go precipitously it could spell more trouble for the EU's reforming Lisbon Treaty as Conservative leader David Cameron has said he wants a national referendum on the text which would heighten the EU parliament's role in creating laws throughout Europe.

In the Netherlands, far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) came second in its first EU election with 17 percent of the vote and won four seats in the new parliament, according to near-complete results of Thursday's voting there.

Reviled and adored alike for his anti-Islamic rhetoric, the 45-year-old firebrand has made deep cracks in a long tradition of Dutch consensus politics, declaring himself on a mission to fight the "Islamisation" of the Netherlands. The Christian Democrats (CDA) of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende lost over four percentage points compared to 2004 to finish with less than 20 percent, according to results released with 99.7 percent of the vote counted.

Release of the Dutch results broke European rules banning their publication before polls close across Europe Sunday night. The European Commission sought an explanation and mulled possible action.

The low turnout that many feared was also evident in the Netherlands, with 36.5 percent of voters in the founding EU member taking part, down from 39.2 percent in the previous elections in 2004.

Turnout has fallen with each EU election since the first in 1979, despite the growing role the parliament plays in adopting, amending or rejecting laws.

It could be lower in 2009 than the 45.6 percent last time, polls suggest.

Over 375 million people are eligible to take part in the elections rolling out across recession-hit Europe. Most of the 27 EU nations will vote Sunday, and the conservatives are expected to return as the largest bloc.

But their victory could be undermined by voter apathy and a focus on national woes rather than European issues.

Extremist anti-EU right- and left-wing parties hope to pick up votes and seats in the new 736-member assembly against a backdrop of recession and rising unemployment.

In Ireland, Prime Minister Brian Cowen's coalition government was bracing for a possible drubbing as the recession-hit economy reels.

Polls indicate support for his centrist Fianna Fail party is hitting record lows.

The polls may be a litmus test of Irish support for the European project ahead of a second referendum expected in October on the Lisbon Treaty.

These elections also saw a first outing for Libertas, the anti-Lisbon Treaty party, which played a central role in Ireland's shock 53.4 percent rejection of the EU blueprint a year ago.

Voters also headed to the polls Friday in the Czech Republic, current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, where an interim government is struggling to exert authority, ahead of national polls in October.

In Paris Tuesday eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus said: "I'm afraid that people living in Europe don't feel the importance of the European elections."

Cyprus, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia go to the polls on Saturday before Europe's Super Sunday, when the other 19 nations -- including France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- round off the voting.

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The present situation is quite an interesting one,as events in Ireland and UK are an almost identical with both countries being run by a party thats been try for over a decade,both countries leaders were not voted in by General Election but took over the jobs when both their predecessors stood down.

Like Labour yesterday in the UK,Fianna Fail here are expected to also take a major hit in the european and local elections,the only difference is that no matter who gets into power in this country,they are already in favour of the treaty,where the Conservatives in the UK will go to the country in the referendum(all depending on a General Election being called in both cases of course),where as it is part of our Constitution that states that any amends to the Constitution has to be done with the say so of the people.

Are we maybe looking at a complete overhaul of both political systems to reflect the greatness that is Obamanation they sure do talk about him a lot     

[Freeski]

Just manipulate them into it, then get on with it! Unbelievable.

[Sub-X]

Brits, not Irish, loom as threat to the EU’s Lisbon treaty
http://blogs.ft.com/brusselsblog/2009/06/brits-not-irish-loom-as-threat-to-the-eus-lisbon-treaty/
7 June 2009

It’s election day in Europe, but in certain respects the most important events are taking place outside the voting booths.

According to a RTE/Sunday Independent opinion poll in Ireland, supporters of the European Union’s Lisbon treaty will defeat opponents by a margin of 54 per cent to 28 per cent (with 18 per cent undecided) when the treaty is submitted to a second referendum, probably in October.  Such a thumping victory would not only reverse but for all practical purposes bury the memory of Irish voters’ rejection of the treaty in June 2008.

Does this mean, then, that the treaty is set fair to come into effect on January 1, 2010, as almost all EU leaders hope?  Not quite.  The political turmoil in the UK is changing the equation.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government ratified the treaty last year.  But the opposition Conservatives have steadfastly opposed it and warned that, should they win power in the UK’s next election, due within a year, they will not meekly let things stand as they are.  Recently, this position has threatened to harden into a determination to hold a referendum even if all 27 EU member-states have approved the treaty by the time the Tories enter government.

This may strike other EU governments as a wholly unreasonable and even legally dubious stance.  But consider the following possibility.  In the Czech Republic, parliament has passed Lisbon after a long political struggle but President Vaclav Klaus, who intensely dislikes the treaty, has refused to add his signature, as Czech law requires.  So, too has President Lech Kaczynski of Poland.  As long as they hold out, Lisbon cannot come into force.

Other things being equal, both men would probably find it impossible to resist the pressure to sign Lisbon, if Irish voters were to say Yes to the treaty in October.  But other things are not equal.  Klaus and Kaczynski are looking at events in London and asking themselves how long it will be before Brown’s government is out of office and replaced by a Conservative government that sees eye to eye with them on Lisbon.

Given the near-certainty that the Tories will win the next election, Klaus and Kaczynski have every incentive to sit tight and not sign the treaty.  Then the Tories will come to power and hold a referendum in which British voters will (so everyone assumes) reject Lisbon.  Hey, presto!  Lisbon is well and truly dead.

This is the real nightmare of EU leaders - not the expected low turnout in the European Parliament elections.

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The Name of the Game is Politics
http://www.neurope.eu/articles/94617.php
7 June 2009

Despite the powers of the new European Parliament will be significantly enhanced, what is of crucial important for the future of Europe is not the correlation of political forces is selecting the new Commission president but the low voter participation in the election process. The low turnout politically compromises the future of the European integration and shows the communication deficit of the central European administration and the failure of the politicians who served as Members of the European Parliament so far, to communicate Europe to their constituents.

Communicating Europe is the mission and the key to succeed is to communicate “good” Europe. Because most of Europe’s facets are the good aspects of this great project citizens learn only of the bad things. They learn that the European Commission is the less transparent contemporary institution they learn that corruption is endemic in Brussels and they learn that who ever live in this city is in real or potentially, a wheeler-dealer. Before proceeding further with the European integration, a radical review of Europe’s communication policies must be addressed.

This European election is crucial for many facets of the composition of the European Union’s new leadership. The first plenary of the new European Parliament will convene on the July 14 in Strasbourg, and will elect its President for the first two-and-a-half years of its mandate. What is highly likely is that the new president will come from the European People’s Party (EPP). The battle will be between Jerzy Buzek from Poland (“Platforma Obywatelska, PO”) and Mario Mauro from Italy (“Popola della Liberta, PdL”). But in case of a deadlock, an outsider - such as the First Vice President of the outgoing Parliament Rodi Kratsa from Greece- should not be excluded. Immediately after, the Parliament will elect the new President of the European Commission - maybe. Yes, maybe. On June 18, the Heads of State of the 27 EU Members will convene in Brussels to decide if the president of the European Commission will be elected at the July 14th Parliamentary plenary, or if the election will be postponed until after the Irish referendum for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, scheduled for October. Postponement is the most likely scenario.


Barroso wants Commission President election in June…

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is highly likely to get the nod for re-election if the June 18th summit decides to proceed with the nomination of the Commission President in June. Barroso has secured, so far, the necessary qualified majority (number of Member States and population) for the European Council to nominate him for president with the view for the Parliament to approve his appointment at the July 14th inauguration plenary. President Barroso knows he has much better chances to be re-elected in July than after October, which is why he has mobilised all the resources he can to secure the nomination in June. By postponing the nomination until after the Irish referendum - almost half a year - many new elements will come into play on Europe’s chessboard, and Barroso might find himself with competitors politically stronger than him. That is why he is struggling to lock up his “re-election” in June.
Another serious element to consider is the procedures of the Parliamentary vote. In the new Parliament there will be 754 Members, as per the Lisbon Treaty (Lisbon,) but there will only be 735 active members, in compliance with the currently valid Nice Treaty (Nice.) Eighteen Members of Parliament will remain inactive until Lisbon enters into force. In case the new Treaty is rejected by the Irish, the 18 inactive Members of Parliament will return home and the EU system will be governed by Nice.
The election of the Commission President under Nice is easier since a majority of the present members at election time is required to win. On the contrary, under Lisbon, a majority of the body (the total number of elected Members) is required, which means that 372 plus one vote, is needed. In the case of Nice, if 300 out of the 735 Members are present, 151 votes are enough. An interesting facet of the Parliament’s vote is that if a candidate is rejected in the first vote, he or she has no second chance because they cannot be a candidate again and another candidate must be presented....

The French and others may think differently

While French President Nicolas Sarkozy  favours Barroso’s  re-election, he doesn’t want the election considered in June because he want to proceed in a more careful and more humble manner so as not to alienate the Irish – who have already rejected the Lisbon Treaty once – and risk another defeat for the EU. The election of the Commission President before the Irish vote would certainly irritate Irish thinking and voters there could rightfully believe the European Union is trying to force the referendum by anticipating the result. Deferring the decision until after October will also deprive Libertas and other Eurosceptics in Ireland of arguments that the Brussels’ elite is ‘jumping the gun’ on the result of the Irish referendum.
In line with Sarkozy seems to be, from a different angle, the (French) Director General of the Legal Service of the Council, Jean-Claude Piris, who is reportedly of the opinion that the nomination of the Commission in June is - from a legal point of view - questionable. For such a big question, there is no doubt that the Director of the Legal Service of the Council would have unofficially consulted before with the Élysée in Paris and the Chancellery in Berlin, so as to validate his opinion.

What will be of extreme interest is to assess how power will be divided in Europe in the three top positions resulting from Lisbon: the President of the Council (a new post,) the Foreign Minister (the upgraded High Representative post,) and the President of the Commission. As it looks now, while it wouldn’t technically be the top spot, but the position of the President of the Commission seems to be the more powerful since it has a proven and functioning infrastructure, the money, and controls the operations of Europe.

The Two Worse-case Scenarios

Much, however, will depend on the profile of the new political personalities that will fill the new posts. To give an idea of how volatile and vague the roles of the President of the Council and the President of the Commission are right now, consider these two possibilities:
Scenario A: A strong personality heading the Council, coming from a big country, and a weak personality heading the Commission, coming from a small country, and both coming from the same political family: The Commission will become the Secretariat of the Council and all decisions will be taken by the European Council. This will be the beginning of the end of European integration.
Scenario B: A lightweight personality heading the Council, from a small country, and an incompetent personality heading the Commission, but both belonging to a different political family: The Commission will become completely autonomous in political leadership and beyond any control,  serving the questionable wishes of the big countries, and exerting the role of the overlord to small countries, the newcomers and the applicants, who will then be supplicants, and this surely will be the end of European integration.

[Sub-X]

Eurosceptics score major win in Britain
http://euobserver.com/?aid=28266
8 June 2009

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European elections in Britain saw the UK Independence Party (UKIP), advocating withdrawal from the EU, scoring its best result ever and coming second to only the opposition Conservatives, while the ruling Labour party slipped to the third place.

With a turnout of 34.3 percent, the Conservatives obtained 27.7 percent of the votes cast in the elections in Britain on 4 June. The Tories will get 25 seats in the newly elected European Parliament, up from 24 so far, final results showed on Monday (8 June).

UKIP had been expecting to do well in the election but the extent of its win was surprising, as it came second with 16.5 percent and obtained 13 seats, one more than in the last parliament.

The Labour party of prime minister Gordon Brown, badly hit by the recent scandal over MPs' abuses of the expenses system, only came third at 15.7 percent and lost five of its 18 MEP seats. British media note that it was Labour's worst score since World War II.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage said his party's score was a "hell of an achievement" and called on the prime minister to resign.

"He has been beaten by a party that he mocked and derided as being on the fringes - so if we have beaten him, he has got to go," Mr Farage said.

For his part, Conservative leader David Cameron said he was "delighted" with his party's result and reiterated his calls for early general elections.

"We topped the poll, we increased our share of the vote, increased our number of MEPs, we won in almost every part of the country and had some staggering results," he told the BBC.

"Obviously the next election should be a general election… the longer we put off this election, the greater the anger [of the British people] will be," he added.

Lisbon referendum?

The prospect of a snap general election and a potential Tory victory spells turbulence for Brussels, with its leader David Cameron having promised to hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty if he comes in power before it is ratified in all EU states, as well as to call for the EU to return powers to London.

"We have pledged that if the constitution [the Lisbon Treaty] is not in force in the event of the election of a Conservative government this year or next, we will hold a referendum on it, urge a No vote, and – if successful – reverse Britain's ratification," Mr Cameron said in April.

He later tabled a bill under which a UK referendum would be held together with Ireland's second vote on the treaty, expected to take place in the autumn.

The UK parliament has already ratified the Lisbon Treaty, but as Britain has no written constitution, the Tory leader would in fact not be breaching any rules if he proceeded to reversing the ratification, British liberal MEP Graham Watson explained on Monday.

"Nothing sets legal limits on what a government can or cannot do [in the UK]," Mr Watson told a news conference in Brussels.

He added he was "worried" by Mr Cameron's intentions to reopen the Lisbon debate in Britain and on the consequences this would have on the UK's place within the EU.

"I am very worried by the position adopted by David Cameron on the Lisbon Treaty. It's almost incredible, unbelievable for a country which was a full part of the negotiations for this treaty… This party is now trying to reopen the debate," he said.

"I would hate to think what would be the impact on the relations [between the UK and the EU]… if a government would come in office and rip out a treaty that its predecessors signed and ratified," he added.

'Depressing day' for British politics

Meanwhile, the far-right British National Party obtained 6.2 percent of the votes and secured two seats in the European parliament for the first time in its history.

The BNP seats will be taken by the party leader Nick Griffin and another candidate, Andrew Brons.

The BNP result prompted regret among both Labour and Tory politicians.

"I think it's a terrible thing that we've now got representing Britain in the European parliament a party that is a racist party, a party that doesn't believe black people should even be allowed to join this party," Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman told the BBC.

For his part, Mr Cameron said the result was "desperately depressing," because the BNP were "an appalling bunch of people."

"It's obviously a depressing day for all of us," he said.

[Sub-X]

Europe moves to the right in parliamentary elections
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1088090.html
8 June 2009

 LONDON --  Europe's political center shifted toward the right Monday as a weak economy, disarray among parties on the left, protest votes against the establishment, anti-immigrant sentiment and a political scandal in Britain combined to influence the outcome of the biggest multinational election in history.

The results of the vote for the European Parliament were felt most acutely in Britain, where an abysmal showing by the Labor Party - its worst performance in a national vote in a century - put new pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who's fighting for his political life. He faced rebellious party members late Monday in a desperate bid to stay in office after the eighth resignation by a Cabinet official in one week.

Shock waves reverberated across the region as results of the voting to fill 736 seats in the European Parliament emerged Monday after four days of voting in all 27 EU countries. Center-right parties, which captured 264 seats, were the big winners at the expense of their counterparts on the left, who gained 183. Smaller, far-right parties also made notable gains, including the openly racist British National Party.

"This is a major earthquake" for parties on the left, said Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, a Spaniard who's a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "It's very humiliating."

Center-right parties came out on top in big countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland, as well as in smaller countries such as Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Denmark and Greece were exceptions to the rule, handing gains to left-of-center parties.

Analysts attributed part of the success that center-right parties achieved - including those of France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel - to their ability to co-opt some of the language and ideas of the left in response to the economic crisis.

"We're seeing a change in the political vocabulary between left and right," said Bob Leonardi, an expert on European issues at the London School of Economics and Political Science. As the economic crisis unfolded in recent months, center-right leaders, including Sarkozy and Merkel, backed more regulation and more state intervention in the economy. As a result, Leonardi said, "the left has lost its orientation."

Britain's Labor Party - the traditional home of labor unions and other liberal types - is more centrist than its continental counterparts, but it's facing the biggest crisis of all as a result of the European parliamentary vote. Labor, which won 13 seats of Britain's 72, placed third in the popular vote, behind the opposition Conservatives, which won 28, and the relatively small U.K. Independence Party, which got 13. Both those conservative groups are skeptical about the EU, and the U.K. Independence Party is calling for Britain to leave the European Union.

The British National Party, an anti-immigrant and anti-EU party that doesn't allow black people to become members, won two seats in the European Parliament, in regions that Labor traditionally dominated.

Many British Labor voters stayed home from the polls to show their disgust at a government that's lurched from one crisis to another, most recently the scandal over the abuse of expense accounts by members of Parliament. Despite mounting calls for Brown's resignation as party leader, a poll done for the British Broadcasting Corp. found that two-thirds of Britons think that replacing Brown as the head of Labor wouldn't help the party's prospects significantly.

Elsewhere in Europe, far-right and nationalist parties gained in the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia, seizing on worries about immigration, crime and terrorism. Analysts said that some of the far-right gains also might be due to a low turnout in the European voting, which left a vacuum that the extremists filled.

"Many people see no difference between globalization and the European Union," Torreblanca said. "To them, it means opening up to immigration and foreign goods." The result, he said, is that the far-right parties are "significant and will be growing."

Leonardi said the latest European vote increased the chances that a new European constitution - known as the Lisbon Treaty - would pass. Ireland is the only European country in which voters have rejected the treaty, which all EU nations must adopt unanimously.

Ireland plans a second vote in October, and the Irish party that's campaigning hardest against the Lisbon Treaty, a group called Libertas, fared badly in the elections over the weekend. This suggests that Irish voters will back the treaty if they have a chance to vote on it in the fall.

The treaty calls for strengthened European institutions and a directly elected European president. Sarkozy was pushing Monday to delay the reappointment of Jose Manuel Barroso to another term as the president of the European Commission until the results of a second Irish referendum are known.

As for foreign policy, "look for greater cooperation between the U.S. and Europe," Leonardi said. "A Europe after Lisbon will be in a position to be a better partner to the U.S."

[Freeski]

We have to put a stop to this monolithic growth of this international dictatorship. The ONLY way we can win is to keep waking people up. That's our only chance.

[Sub-X]

Unfortunately IMHO this round of the fight is already lost,why only today I was listening to the radio and they were talking about how much worse of a position we would be in if we were still had our own currency.The treaty has not be changed in any way,all thats changed is Europe has given verbal "guarantees" on the issues of Neutrality,Taxation and Abortion,a gentlemans agreement if you will that is not legally binding and subject to change at any time on a whim for the greater good of the European dictatorship.

Though the fight will continue       

   

[Freeski]

Unfortunately IMHO this round of the fight is already lost,why only today I was listening to the radio and they were talking about how much worse of a position we would be in if we were still had our own currency.The treaty has not be changed in any way,all thats changed is Europe has given verbal "guarantees" on the issues of Neutrality,Taxation and Abortion,a gentlemans agreement if you will that is not legally binding and subject to change at any time on a whim for the greater good of the European dictatorship.

Though the fight will continue       

   

We will never surrender!

[Sub-X]

Barroso seeks speedy Lisbon vote
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0609/breaking19.htm
9 June 2009

The European Union must “quickly agree” a package of measures to secure Irish ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said today.

Speaking after a meeting in Brussels, Mr Barroso said he hoped the union could resolve the outstanding institutional issues in line with agreements made at the European Council last December, where Taoiseach Brian Cowen secured a number of concessions to make the treaty more palatable to the Irish electorate.

The key elements of the deal involve agreement that all EU states retain a commissioner, and that legal guarantees on issues of concern to the Irish electorate such as neutrality, abortion and taxation are accepted.

Mr Barroso called on the Council of Ministers for a speedy acceptance of the measures.

He said: “I want us to give the Irish Government what it needs to call a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and to give it the best chance to win.”

“I therefore hope we can quickly agree on the assurances that we accepted in December,” he added.

Earlier Mr Barroso declared his candidacy for a second term as president of the European Commission.

"I am ... honoured that the President of the European Council has today asked me if he can put forward my name for a second mandate," Mr Barroso told a news conference.

"I have agreed to this request," he said.

Mr Barroso (53) a conservative former prime minister of Portugal, made his announcement following talks with leaders of the Czech Republic and Sweden, the current and next holders of the EU presidency. He has held the post since November 2004.


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This is utter BS,there is only one way to make these concessions legally binding by writing these concession into the treaty which they are not willing to do 

[Sub-X]

Sarkozy pledges support for Irish referendum
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0611/breaking66.htm
12 June 2009

France and Germany set out plans today to shape the future of the European Union, saying they would push to keep Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and pressure Irish voters to approve a treaty.

Buoyed by their conservative parties' victories in last weekend's European parliamentary elections, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel said they would throw their weight behind Mr Barroso's bid to stay on.

"We will support Mr Barroso's candidacy without ambiguity," Mr Sarkozy told a news conference after talks with Mrs Merkel in Paris.

Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel have emerged as the EU poll's victors after many of their left-leaning colleagues suffered defeats.

Mr Barroso, a Portuguese conservative who has headed the EU's executive since 2004 and whose mandate expires in November, declared on Tuesday his candidacy for a second five-year term.

Both Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy said they expected Mr Barroso to produce a formal policy programme, and Mrs Merkel added that she hoped a vote on a second mandate could take place after agreement with the European parliament next month.

That would be before Irish voters will likely be asked to return to the polls to decide whether to ratify a treaty to overhaul the EU's institutions.

Ireland is the only country to have rejected the Lisbon treaty, which is aimed at introducing many of the reforms enshrined in a proposed EU constitution that French and Dutch voters threw out by referendum four years ago.

Without Irish approval, the treaty has been put on ice, delaying what Mr Sarkozy, Mrs Merkel and others say are crucial reforms such as creating a permanent presidency instead of the current rotating system and other bids to streamline decision-making.

Mr Sarkozy said his understanding was that a second Irish referendum on the Lisbon treaty would be held in September or October. He said he and Mrs Merkel were prepared to get involved to help ensure the "yes" vote wins.

"Mrs Merkel and I will do everything we can to help the Irish make the choice for Lisbon," he said. "If it is of use, I would even be ready to travel to Ireland to support them."

Another threat to the Lisbon treaty could arise in Britain, where prime minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party came third behind the Conservatives and the anti-EU UK Independence Party.

The debacle dealt Mr Brown a new blow after a week of resignations from his government and calls for him to step down.

Conservative leader David Cameron has said he would hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty and recommend a 'no' vote if it had not been implemented by the time his party got into power.

Asked what would happen if the Conservatives seized power, Mr Sarkozy praised Mr Brown for deciding to ratify the Lisbon treaty in parliament rather than by holding a perilous referendum.

"We were pleased to have Mr Gordon Brown around the table in these recent months because he took his responsibilities and he acted with courage to take his country onto the path of European construction," Mr Sarkozy said.

[Sub-X]

Lisbon Treaty may have to be approved for second time
London Telegraph
12 June 2009

Britain may have to approve the Lisbon Treaty for a second time if the EU grants Ireland substantial concessions in an attempt to persuade its voters to back it in a referendum later this year.

A new Commons vote could prove explosive and would be seized on by the Tories and UKIP who made big gains in the recent European elections on the back of their opposition to the agreement.

Last year, Irish voters rejected the treaty which will increase the power in Brussels power and create a new EU president and euro diplomatic service.

They will vote on the document again this autumn and the EU is working on a number of opt-outs to offer as sweeteners in an attempt to get it through this time.

The Irish government is seeking legally binding “protocols” to the treaty to show voters it has won substantial changes since the rejection last June.

But legally-binding opt-outs would have to be ratified by a separate parliamentary vote in Britain, either straight away or when Croatia joins the EU next year.

In both scenarios, British ministers are concerned that concessions given to the Irish because of a referendum rejection might reignite demands for Britain to get a better deal.

EU officials and diplomats are now said to be tying themselves in knots in an attempt to deliver a “safe package” that will not require another Commons vote.

The British concerns forced the cancellation of a key meeting of EU ambassadors on Thursday and frantic rewriting of legal texts.

New documents setting out Irish Lisbon Treaty guarantees on abortion, the right to life, education and the family with a separate declaration on workers’ rights have been delayed until next Tuesday, just two days before the Prime Minister meets with other EU leaders at a Brussels summit.

“We must avoid a situation where guarantees to Ireland use language or words that could open up the Treaty in the House of Commons,” said a senior British source.

“If Ireland which held a referendum gets a better deal than Britain it makes Gordon Brown look pretty stupid after he went the distance to avoid a referendum,” said an EU official.

Micheal Martin, the Irish foreign minister, has admitted that countries, such as Britain, face their own “domestic issues” over the legal guarantees.

“We have to be careful that in getting what we want we do not upset procedures for others,” he said.

Britain is not alone in fearing that taking a protocol through national parliaments could unravel the fragile compromises surrounding the Lisbon Treaty, drawn up to replace the EU Constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

The Dutch and Poles, who like Britain forced some limited declarations to dilute the Lisbon Treaty’s bill of EU rights and to protect scrutiny by national parliaments, also fear opening old political wounds.

Britain loses 40 national vetoes under the Lisbon Treaty which also creates a new EU president and euro diplomatic service under the control of a “European foreign minister”.

Margot Wallstrom, the European Commission vice-president, said: “We have to achieve two things – give the Irish the guarantees and the texts that they need and at the same time not reopen the treaty for re-ratification in other member states.”

[Sub-X]

This WEEK in the European Union
http://euobserver.com/9/28295
12 June 2009

EUOBSERVER / WEEKLY AGENDA (15 - 21 June) – Post-European elections bargaining will peak this week at an EU summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels, when the bloc's leaders are set to decide the fate of Jose Manuel Barroso as commission president as well as agree on the legal guarantees enabling Ireland to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

EU foreign ministers will test the grounds on Monday (15 June) in preparation to their presidents and premiers' summit at the end of the week.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy put a cat amongst the pigeons last week when he announced his country and Germany were backing Mr Barroso for a second mandate, but only if he adopted a "more ambitious" programme for Europe.

A political agreement on Mr Barroso was secure for the upcoming summit, he said, but a juridical backing would only come later this fall, adding some extra pressure on the commission head, who is already being contested by the European Socialists.

Mr Barroso already urged EU leaders to appoint him in June, so that the newly elected parliament could give its blessing on his second mandate in July. But both the French president and the German chancellor would rather keep the pressure on Mr Barroso in order to secure important portfolios in the next commission.

As the Barroso commission's mandate only runs out at the end of October, France is suggesting the possibility of delaying the whole nomination procedure until after the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The EU parliament would then play a bigger role in the appointment of the president of the executive, something that adds extra stress to Mr Barroso, as the Socialists, Liberals and Greens could block the procedure.

But Sweden, as incoming EU presidency, is insisting that Mr Barroso be given the job a second time and with a full mandate from June.

Meanwhile, the calendar of the second Irish referendum largely depends on the legal guarantees to be adopted by the EU leaders on Thursday. Yet Britain is wary of drawing up a new protocol, warning that it might relaunch the debate on the Lisbon Treaty.

London has already ratified the document, as have most EU countries, yet Conservative opposition leader David Cameron, whose party won in a landslide in both the EU and local elections, has pledged to put the text to a referendum if the Brown government falls and he becomes prime minister before it is ratified.

Poland and the Czech Republic, whose presidents have still not signed off the treaty, could also want similar guarantees, especially on social issues such as ensuring the EU could not impose abortion laws in Ireland or on keeping the country's low tax regime.

Several states are also concerned about a declaration Dublin is seeking on Irish workers' rights, a very sensitive issue at EU level, where the emphasis is on freedom of movement for workers.

Foreign ministers on Monday are also set to discuss the bloc's relations with Israel, during an EU-Israel association council. Echoing US President Barack Obama's remarks in Egypt ten days ago, the ministers are expected to call on Israel to end settlement activities in the West Bank and commit "unequivocally" to the two-state solution.

Meanwhile, informal meetings will continue among the newly elected MEPs on the reorganisation of political groups after the European elections results. The outgoing Bureau of the Parliament will also be meeting to deal with organisational matters in the run up to the inaugural session of the new Parliament on 14-16 July in Strasbourg.

A first EU-Pakistan summit is scheduled to take place on Wednesday (17 June) in Brussels, under the chairmanship of Czech President Vaclav Klaus. The summit is mainly aimed at giving political backing to the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in his efforts to counter the Taliban insurgency, while also raising concerns regarding the human rights and huge flows of internally displaces persons from the Swat valley where the main fighting takes place.

EU anti-terrorism co-ordinator Gilles de Kerchove will also attend the summit, as well as the Pakistani ministers of interior, foreign affairs, commerce and the special advisor on financial issues. The EU is likely to offer technical assistance in training the police and judiciary when dealing with terrorism suspects, as well as aim an increase in aid for the internally displaced persons.

[Sub-X]

Martin 'quietly confident' of EU backing for Lisbon guarantees
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0616/1224248901789.html
16 June 2009

THE GOVERNMENT is “quietly confident” it will get the legal guarantees it is seeking on the Lisbon Treaty and possibly announce the date of a second referendum later this week.

However, it still faces stiff opposition from some states to its request to have a legally binding protocol attached to the EU treaties that its EU partners would have to ratify.

“The impetus from other member states is to be helpful, creative and try to resolve these issues … We are quietly confident and hopeful,” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin after EU foreign ministers met in Luxembourg yesterday.

He was speaking shortly after the Government sent the first draft outlining the legal guarantees that it wants its EU partners to sign up to at an EU summit on Thursday. It focuses on three specific areas where the Government is seeking legally binding guarantees on: taxation; neutrality and ethical/social issues such as the right to life, family and education. It also addresses workers’ rights and social policy but in these sensitive areas the Government will get a declaration, not a legal guarantee.

On the issue of military neutrality the legal guarantee says that nothing in the Lisbon Treaty provides for “the creation of an EU army or for conscription to any military formation”. It also clarifies that the Government can decide whether to come to the aid of an EU state attacked by terrorists and how much it spends on military equipment – all issues that were raised by No campaigners during the first treaty referendum.

The guarantees stipulate that neither the treaty nor the charter of fundamental rights, which is made legally binding by Lisbon, affects in any way the scope or applicability of the Irish Constitution in relation to the right to life, family and education. It also makes clear that Lisbon does not affect in any way EU competence in the field of taxation.

Mr Martin said member states may seek some changes to the draft following the meeting today but he insisted the “underlying mood” of negotiations was constructive.

EU diplomats, however, said there was still resistance to Irish demands to have the legally binding guarantees ratified by all EU states’ parliaments to enable the guarantees to become primary law by enshrining them in the EU treaties. “The legal form is one of those [issues] which are still being discussed,” said Czech Europe minister Stefan Fule. “What was mentioned by many ministers today is that while we should approach this issue with creativity ... that should not mean we create problems in other member states.”

Britain, Poland and the Netherlands are all concerned that ratifying an Irish protocol through their parliaments will reopen the debate on the treaty. They are pushing for EU heads of state to issue a legally binding decision at the summit setting out the legal guarantees rather than agree to ratify a new protocol.

But Mr Martin said the Government wants its EU partners to commit to ratify a protocol on the legal guarantees at the same time that Croatia joins the EU in 2011.

He noted that French president Nicolas Sarkozy supported this position when he chaired last December’s EU summit.

Mr Martin also hinted that the Government may be in a position to announce a date for a second referendum if it secured its legal guarantees at this week’s summit.

[Sub-X]

Conservatives will not reopen debate on Lisbon Treaty
London Telegraph
15 June 2009

The Conservatives will not reopen the debate or hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if Ireland ratifies it later this year, shadow business secretary Ken Clarke has said.

The surprising admission from Mr Clarke, the most pro-European Union member of David Cameron’s shadow cabinet, is the clearest signal yet that, despite the party hierarchy having tried to leave open the possibility of a retrospective referendum when the Tories got into power, voters would not be given a say on the controversial treaty which is, in effect, an EU constitution.

Both Mr Cameron and William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, have said they will “not let matters rest” even if the Irish vote “yes” at the second time of asking this autumn. Voters in Ireland are expected to accept the treaty, despite rejecting it the first time around last year.

Labour promised a referendum on the constitution, but never delivered a vote.

The Tories, however, fought the recent European elections insisting they were not finished with the treaty. But Mr Clarke told BBC’s Politics Show on Sunday: “If the Irish referendum endorses the treaty and ratification comes into effect, then our settled policy is quite clear that the treaty will not be reopened.

“But it has also been said by David Cameron – and he means it – that it will not rest there and he will want to start discussing the division of competences between member states and the European Union,” Mr Clarke added.

He went on to describe how the Tories would instead simply look at some of the employment legislation issues that stem from Europe.

Mr Cameron brought Mr Clarke, who held a number of top Cabinet positions in the previous Tory administration, back into his shadow team last January to bolster its experience.

But his comments will infuriate many on his own side, including those who gave warning that his well-documented admiration for the EU would come back to haunt the Tory leader.

Bill Cash, the Eurosceptic backbench Tory MP, demanded to know if Mr Clarke’s comments were sanctioned by the party leadership.

He said it was essential that Britain held a referendum on Lisbon, irrespective of the Irish vote. He added: “It appears that Kenneth Clarke has reinvented unilaterally Conservative Party policy on the whole of the Lisbon Treaty and European policy.”

As polls in Ireland indicate that the treaty will be approved, Mr Clarke added: “I don’t think anybody in Europe, including me, is in the mood for any more tedious debates about treaties, which have gone on for far too long, which is why this needs to be resolved.”

[Sub-X]

Lisbon assurances:the text in full
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0616/1224248898546.html
16 June 2009

This is the full text of the assurances which the Government hopes other EU heads of government will endorse later this week in preparation for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in the autumn

Section A

Right to Life, Family and Education

Nothing in the Treaty of Lisbon attributing legal status to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, or in the provisions of that Treaty in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice affects in any way the scope and applicability of the protection of the right to life in Article 40.3.1. 40.3.2 and 40.3.3, the protection of the family in Article 41 and the protection of the rights in respect of education in Articles 42 and 44.2.4 and 44.2.5 provided by the Constitution of Ireland.

Section B

Taxation

Nothing in the Treaty of Lisbon makes any change of any kind for any Member State, to the extent or operation of the competence of the European Union in relation to taxation.

Section C

Security and Defence

The Union’s action on the international scene is guided by the principles of democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.

The Union’s common security and defence policy is an integral part of the common foreign and security policy and provides the Union with an operational capacity to undertake missions outside the Union for peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. It does not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of Ireland.

The Lisbon Treaty does not affect or prejudice Ireland’s traditional policy of military neutrality.

It will be for Ireland, acting in a spirit of solidarity and without prejudice to its traditional policy of military neutrality, to determine the nature of aid or assistance to be provided to a Member State which is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of armed aggression on its territory. Any decision to move to a common defence will require a unanimous decision of the European Council. It would be a matter for the Member States, including Ireland, to decide, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon and with their respective constitutional requirements, whether or not to adopt a common defence.

Nothing in this Section affects or prejudices the position or policy of any other Member State on security and defence.

It is also a matter for each Member State to decide, in accordance with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty and any domestic legal requirements, whether to participate in permanent structured co-operation or the European Defence Agency.

The Treaty of Lisbon does not provide for the creation of a European army or for conscription to any military formation,

It does not affect the right of Ireland or any other Member State to determine the nature and volume of its defence and security expenditure and the nature of its defence capabilities.

It will be a matter for Ireland or any other Member State to decide, in accordance with any domestic legal requirement, whether or not to participate in any military operation.

Section D

Final Provisions

Annex 2

Solemn Declaration on Workers’ Rights and Social Policy

The European Council confirms the high importance which the Union attaches to:

    * Social progress and the protection of workers’ rights;
    * Public services, as an indispensable instrument of social and regional cohesion;
    * The responsibility of Member States for the delivery of education and health services;
    * The essential role and wide discretion of national, regional and local authorities in providing, commissioning and organising services of general economic interest.

In doing so, it underlines the importance of respecting the overall framework and provisions of the EU Treaties.

It recalls that the Treaties as modified by the Treaty of Lisbon:

    * Aim at establishing an internal market and working for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment;
    * Will give expression to the Union’s values and, through Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, recognise the rights, freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
    * Aim to combat social exclusion and discrimination, and to promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child;
    * Oblige the Union, when defining and implementing its policies and activities, to take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health;
    * Include, as a shared value of the Union, the essential role and the wide discretion of national, regional and local authorities in providing, commissioning and organising services of general economic interest as closely as possible to the needs of the users;
    * Do not affect in any way the competence of Member States to provide, commission and organise non-economic service of general interest;
    * Provide that the Council, when acting in the area of common commercial policy, must act unanimously when negotiating and concluding international agreements in the field of trade in social, education and health services, where those agreements risk seriously disturbing the national organisation of such services and prejudicing the responsibility of Member States to deliver them; and
    * Provide that the Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at the level of the European Union, and facilitates dialogue between them, taking account of the diversity of national systems and respecting the autonomy of social partners.

It reiterates that the participation of contingents of the Irish Defence Forces in overseas operations, including those carried out under the European common security and defence policy requires (a) the authorisation of the operation by the Security Council of the General Assembly of the United Nations, (b) the agreement of the Irish Government, and (c) the approval of Dáil Éireann, in accordance with Irish law.

Ireland notes that nothing obliges it to participate in permanent structured co-operation as provided for in the Treaty on European Union. Any decision enabling Ireland to participate will require the approval of Dáil Éireann in accordance with Irish law.

Ireland notes also that nothing obliges it to participate in the European Defence Agency, or in specific projects or programmes initiated under its auspices. Any decision to participate in such projects or programmes will be subject to national decision-making and the approval of Dáil Éireann in accordance with Irish law. Ireland declares that it will participate only in those projects and programmes that contribute to enhancing the capabilities required for participation in UN-mandated missions for peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security, in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.

The situation set out in this Declaration would be unaffected by the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. In the event of Ireland’s ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, this Declaration will be associated with Ireland’s instrument of ratification.

[Sub-X]

Barroso may be in one-horse race but still has hurdles to jump
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0616/1224248898529.html
16 June 2009

TO NOMINATE or to intend to nominate? That is the question driving European Commission president José Manuel Barroso and his closest political advisers crazy this week. Barroso, the Portuguese former prime minister who has led the EU executive for the past five years, has made no secret of his desire to stay in the post for a second term. After months of lobbying EU capitals he finally declared his candidacy for the post last week.

Barroso should be a shoo-in for the job, principally because no one else has emerged as a contender. Across the main European political groups he has already won unanimous backing from his own political family, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP). He has also won support from three Socialist prime ministers: Britain’s Gordon Brown, Portugal’s José Socrates and Spain’s José Luis Zapatero. This has torpedoed the candidacy of the one possible rival, former Danish prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.

So when EU leaders meet in Brussels this week it would seem to most casual observers that they have a relatively simply task of renominating Barroso. But in EU politics plum appointments are almost never made without a little bit of drama, a dose of complicated legal ambiguity and perhaps even the odd Machiavellian manoeuvre.

Ireland’s failure to ratify the Lisbon Treaty is making things more complicated for Barroso, as some EU states want to delay his formal nomination and ratification until the new treaty enters into force. France and Germany are advocating that EU leaders make an interim political decision on his nomination this week and wait until Ireland votes in its second referendum in the autumn before formally nominating the commission president.

A legal argument can be made for delaying a formal appointment, as the structure of the new commission and the process for ratifying the president differ depending on the EU treaty in force. Under the rules in the Nice treaty, the number of commissioners appointed in 2009 must be lower than the number of EU states, which means at least one country would lose its representative on the commission if Lisbon is not ratified. By appointing Barroso now, Portugal would be assured a commissioner while other EU states would not.

Legal purists also point to the slightly different ratification procedure for the post of commission president under both EU treaties. Under Nice a simple majority (of MEPs who vote) of the European Parliament is needed to approve a president, while under Lisbon, an absolute majority (the majority of all 736 MEPs) is required. This may require Barroso to be re-ratified under the Lisbon procedure if the treaty enters force. The Franco-German push for a political rather than formal legal decision on Barroso’s re-nomination is also motivated by political rather than legal concerns. French president Nicolas Sarkozy is lobbying hard to obtain a plum economic portfolio such as internal market or competition for the next French commissioner. He knows he will retain more bargaining power while Barroso requires French support for his candidacy as commission president.

Berlin would also prefer a delay because it holds a general election in September and cannot propose its candidate for the commission until the result is clear. It knows that as soon as Barroso is appointed, other member states will begin nominating their own commissioners in the hope of securing a decent commission job. Germany doesn’t want to be at the back of the queue come the autumn when it decides on its candidate.

Delaying Barroso’s appointment until the autumn when Lisbon is expected to enter into force would also create more options for the distribution of two new EU jobs – president of the European Council and a new beefed-up EU foreign affairs chief.

Selecting three candidates rather than two provides more flexibility when it comes to ensuring they represent different political groups and offer geographic balance. This is the scenario most feared by Barroso, who could then face competition for retaining his post.

Sweden, which takes over the EU presidency in July, has called for Barroso to be nominated without delay, arguing that stability is required at a time of crisis. Small EU states tend to rely on the commission during their presidencies and the last thing Stockholm wants is a rudderless EU executive over the next six months. But Ireland, which is normally a supporter of a strong commission, is in a tricky position because it doesn’t want to be seen to prejudge the result of a second Lisbon referendum.

A further complicating factor is the position of the political groups in the European Parliament. The EPP has already rejected a suggestion by Sarkozy that the parliament could vote in July on the basis of a declaration of political support for Barroso. Without the formal blessing of EU leaders “we couldn’t vote in mid-July”, EPP president Joseph Daul told AFP last week. But many MEPs are also anxious to ensure the parliament is consulted about the nomination before a decision is taken by EU leaders, which is an innovation introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. As one diplomat admitted yesterday the whole thing is a bit of a mess, leaving Barroso facing a few nervous weeks ahead.

[Sub-X]

EU seeks summit deals on Irish referendum, Barroso
http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSLG96135520090616
16 June 2009

BRUSSELS, June 16 (Reuters) - The European Union hoped to complete a deal on Tuesday to offer Ireland legal guarantees on national sovereignty that would increase the chances of Irish voters backing a treaty reforming EU decision making.

Ireland is confident a deal will be reached in time for EU leaders to approve it at a two-day summit starting on Thursday. The Irish government would then be likely to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon reform treaty in September or October.

The leaders will also back Jose Manuel Barroso for a new term as president of the executive European Commission at the summit, discuss financial regulatory reforms, step up the fight against unemployment and plot strategy for U.N. climate talks.

Ireland's referendum is vital because reforms intended to streamline decision making in the EU and give it more weight on the world stage can go into force only if all 27 member states approve the Lisbon treaty.

EU envoys were discussing the guarantees for Ireland on Tuesday and Dublin was confident a deal would be reached.

"Depending on a successful conclusion to this week, it would be unreasonable for Ireland ... to in any way block the reforms necessary to make the EU effective on the world stage," Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said after talks on Monday.

Ireland wants assurance on issues including taxation, abortion and military neutrality, and wants to continue to have a representative on the European Commission.

Dublin identified these as issues that worried Irish voters when they rejected the treaty in a referendum in June last year.

Opinion polls suggest the treaty now has the support of a majority of Irish voters, many of whom look to Europe as a shield in the global financial crisis.

BARROSO FACES OBSTACLES

Barroso hopes the summit will give him a legally binding endorsement for a second five-year term but may receive only a political statement saying he has the EU leaders' confidence.

 Some states want to delay his formal nomination until the Lisbon treaty goes into force because the structure of the new Commission and the ratification process for the president will change under it.

"We need a decision that will help us deal with the political challenges. The political challenges aren't going to wait until Europe gets its house in order," said Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger.

Barroso, 53, a conservative former prime minister of Portugal, has headed the EU's executive since 2004 and would represent stability at a time of economic crisis.

No one else is in the running for the appointment, which would also need the approval of the European Parliament.

The Commission has far-reaching regulatory powers and proposes much of the EU's legislation. The president decides its policy priorities and chooses the other Commission members.

One of those priorities will be implementing new financial regulations to prevent another global economic crisis.

The EU leaders are expected to demand quick progress on this at the summit, particularly on regulation of alternative investment funds and improved capital requirements for banks.

They are also set to approve the creation of two new bodies to assess potential threats to financial stability and protect small financial firms and consumers, and call for the new regulatory framework to be in place in 2010.

The action coincides with U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to outline regulatory reforms on Wednesday, targeting critical weaknesses in the U.S. financial system such as thin bank capital cushions and eroded lending standards.

The summit will also include discussion of the EU's strategy for the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen at which agreement is sought on a new pact to combat climate change, and will make a new commitment to fight soaring unemployment.

[Sub-X]

McKenna rubbishes concept of 'legal guarantees' on Lisbon Treaty
Breaking News.ie
16 June 2009

People’s Movement chairperson Patricia McKenna has accused the Government of engaging in a cynical exercise of “political manipulation”.

Speaking on behalf of the People’s Movement, which successfully campaigned against ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in last year’s referendum, McKenna said: “These so-called ‘legal guarantees’ on the Lisbon Treaty are nothing more than an exercise in creative manipulation designed to mislead the public.

“This decision-making procedure which the Government are currently participating in does not exist as a legal instrument of the summits.

“It was invented by the EU’s political elite as very creative way of giving people an illusion of a legal certainty, which does not exist. The so-called ‘decision’ changes absolutely nothing in the treaties. If it were to change even a single word, then it would have to go through new ratifications in all member states in order to be validated.”

“A ‘decision’ in the summit is not a legally binding document that requires ratification by member states. A common ‘declaration’ which may express the intentions of today’s politicians accompanies it, but it does not stop future politicians from meddling with these ‘assurances’.”

“Another example of the ‘creativity’ of this whole process is the fact that Ireland will have its own Irish declaration which will not be signed by any other member state.

“Such unilateral declarations cannot be accepted as legitimate political promises. If Ireland had been able to get other member states to agree to what is in our own Irish declaration then it would have been part of the joint declaration or the decision.”

[Sub-X]

Bill sets conditions for Army role in EU defence body
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0617/1224248984008.html
17 June 2009

THE GOVERNMENT has drafted legislation to be enacted in advance of the next Lisbon referendum ensuring that participation in European Defence Agency (EDA) operations is subject to both a Cabinet decision and Dáil approval.

The EDA was established on July 12th, 2004, “to help EU member states to develop their defence capabilities for crisis-management operations” and the Government is seeking to allay concerns that Irish participation may undermine the traditional policy of military neutrality.

The heads of the European Defence Agency Bill 2009 are already prepared and the legislation is to be approved by the Oireachtas in time for the next vote on Lisbon, which is now expected to take place in early October.

The move comes at the end of six months of negotiation between the Green Party and its Fianna Fáil partners in Government. Separate legislation is also being prepared to restrict all State agencies from promoting an armaments industry in Ireland.

Work will also begin on a White Paper on Defence 2011-2020, which was agreed in the programme for government.

The EDA Bill requires that any participation in the agency’s “projects or programmes” must be approved by the Cabinet as well as a majority vote in favour of a Dáil motion put down by the Government. At present, it is possible to take part in any EDA programme without reference to the Dáil, Green Party sources told The Irish Times. “The requirement to have Dáil approval represents a genuine advance in terms of oversight and transparency.”

The types of programmes or projects involved, currently unrestricted, would in future “be strictly limited to those projects and programmes that contribute to our ability to participate in United Nations-mandated missions”.

A similar requirement for approval by the Dáil exists under the Defence Act 1960, whereby a majority of TDs must agree to the deployment of Irish soldiers on peacekeeping missions overseas where the contingent is larger than 12.

The new approach to EDA involvement was approved by the Cabinet last week as part of a series of measures relating to the Lisbon Treaty.

Final details have been worked out in the last few days by representatives of the two sides, meeting at Government Buildings.

The initial Green position on the EDA was that Ireland should withdraw from membership, and early negotiations which took place in December last year were described as “very stiff”.

Meeting one-to-one without the presence of officials at the end of April, Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley reached agreement on a common approach with Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin.

Final negotiations also involved Green Party Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea and Green Senators Deirdre de Búrca and Dan Boyle and officials from both sides.

The focus on the EDA was part of the Green Party’s emphasis on the issue of military neutrality in the preparation of the final text of the assurances which the Government is presenting for endorsement by EU heads of government in Brussels tomorrow evening.

The leadership of the Greens was eager to reassure the party’s support-base that there would be adequate safeguards against the erosion of Ireland’s military neutrality in the context of Lisbon.

Headed by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the EDA is based in Brussels and has a staff of 100. All EU member states are involved except Denmark, and decisions are made by a board consisting of defence ministers from the 26 participating member states.

[Sub-X]

Bill sets conditions for Army role in EU defence body
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0617/1224248984008.html
17 June 2009

THE GOVERNMENT has drafted legislation to be enacted in advance of the next Lisbon referendum ensuring that participation in European Defence Agency (EDA) operations is subject to both a Cabinet decision and Dáil approval.

The EDA was established on July 12th, 2004, “to help EU member states to develop their defence capabilities for crisis-management operations” and the Government is seeking to allay concerns that Irish participation may undermine the traditional policy of military neutrality.

The heads of the European Defence Agency Bill 2009 are already prepared and the legislation is to be approved by the Oireachtas in time for the next vote on Lisbon, which is now expected to take place in early October.

The move comes at the end of six months of negotiation between the Green Party and its Fianna Fáil partners in Government. Separate legislation is also being prepared to restrict all State agencies from promoting an armaments industry in Ireland.

Work will also begin on a White Paper on Defence 2011-2020, which was agreed in the programme for government.

The EDA Bill requires that any participation in the agency’s “projects or programmes” must be approved by the Cabinet as well as a majority vote in favour of a Dáil motion put down by the Government. At present, it is possible to take part in any EDA programme without reference to the Dáil, Green Party sources told The Irish Times. “The requirement to have Dáil approval represents a genuine advance in terms of oversight and transparency.”

The types of programmes or projects involved, currently unrestricted, would in future “be strictly limited to those projects and programmes that contribute to our ability to participate in United Nations-mandated missions”.

A similar requirement for approval by the Dáil exists under the Defence Act 1960, whereby a majority of TDs must agree to the deployment of Irish soldiers on peacekeeping missions overseas where the contingent is larger than 12.

The new approach to EDA involvement was approved by the Cabinet last week as part of a series of measures relating to the Lisbon Treaty.

Final details have been worked out in the last few days by representatives of the two sides, meeting at Government Buildings.

The initial Green position on the EDA was that Ireland should withdraw from membership, and early negotiations which took place in December last year were described as “very stiff”.

Meeting one-to-one without the presence of officials at the end of April, Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley reached agreement on a common approach with Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin.

Final negotiations also involved Green Party Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea and Green Senators Deirdre de Búrca and Dan Boyle and officials from both sides.

The focus on the EDA was part of the Green Party’s emphasis on the issue of military neutrality in the preparation of the final text of the assurances which the Government is presenting for endorsement by EU heads of government in Brussels tomorrow evening.

The leadership of the Greens was eager to reassure the party’s support-base that there would be adequate safeguards against the erosion of Ireland’s military neutrality in the context of Lisbon.

Headed by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the EDA is based in Brussels and has a staff of 100. All EU member states are involved except Denmark, and decisions are made by a board consisting of defence ministers from the 26 participating member states.

[Sub-X]

Ryanair CEO to campaign vociferously for EU treaty
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/06/17/afx6556297.html
17 June 2009

DUBLIN, June 17 (Reuters) - Ryanair  ( RYAAY -  news  -  people ) Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday he would campaign for the ratification of the European Union's Lisbon treaty in Ireland, dismissing a suggestion his PR style could be counterproductive.
Article Controls

A wide array of Irish political and business groups have backed the reform treaty but it was defeated in a referendum last June after what was widely seen as a lacklustre campaign that left many voters indifferent and insufficiently informed.

Wealthy businessmen Ulick McEvaddy and Declan Ganley led groups which opposed the treaty, designed to make European decision-making more efficient and give the 27-member bloc a unified voice on the world stage.

Ireland has agreed to hold a second vote this autumn subject to guarantees on key concerns for Irish voters which European leaders will try to finalise at a summit on Thursday and Friday.

'(Me) personally and Ryanair are going to launch a vociferous and very high profile campaign on Lisbon if and whenever this government gets around to actually calling a referendum,' said O'Leary, whose business is growing despite global recession.

 Talking to reporters, O'Leary rejected a suggestion that the participation of an abrasive figure like himself would be counterproductive, saying politicians were doing more damage.

'The best way of getting it passed would be to get all the political parties to campaign actively for a 'No' vote,' he said.

O'Leary's weekly PR stunts have generated much publicity for Europe's biggest low-cost airline, which has recently announced then rowed back on plans to charge passengers for the use of toilets on board and for being too fat to fit in seats.

O'Leary, who according to his own spokesman often 'makes stuff up as he goes along' has made enemies however with attacks on former takeover target Aer Lingus and the government, Aer Lingus' second biggest shareholder after Ryanair.

O'Leary was holding a news conference on Wednesday mainly to lash out at a 10-euro travel tax imposed by the Irish government, which he blamed for Ryanair moving aircraft away from Irish airports.

He said his campaign for the treaty would rely mostly on the www.ryanair.com website rather than billboards.

'I would always want to campaign for something that makes absolute sense for the Irish economy,' he said. 'We need some business people out there who can come up with some sensible contributions.'

[Sub-X]

If Lisbon II is to be carried the yes side must start playing as a team.
Irish Examiner
18 June 2009

There is another bastion that needs to come under scrutiny – the Supreme Court This most august, overriding authority is unelected and unaccountable. Its judges are probably our most learned lawyers. However, they have handed down judgments in relation to referenda that almost render the process unmanageable

TODAY the European Council should seal the deal on the text we will be asked to vote on again in the Lisbon Treaty referendum.

Last December, EU leaders agreed an outline deal with the government whereby the referendum would be rerun. French president Nicolas Sarkozy brokered clarifications for Ireland which are in the form of legally binding guarantees, without involving re-ratification of the treaty in the other 26 member states.

The EU has shifted ground on the composition of the commission. Now a political undertaking has been given that each member state will retain a commissioner. This resolves a key argument of the no campaign. Smaller countries with top candidates will benefit most. The debate about the size of the commission is similar to our own controversy about junior ministers. If there are too many, you devalue the currency. Inevitably some commissioners will end up with peripheral portfolios.

The legally-binding guarantees will not constitute a protocol. They may be put in some future treaty, perhaps after the accession of Croatia. We are set to receive firm pledges in relation to the retention of our low corporation tax.

Our neutrality will be enshrined through opt-out provisions for Ireland. Other commitments will relate to the right to life, ethics, the family and education. Some disagreement has apparently arisen in relation to clarification on workers’ rights.

In this new context, will we affirm the treaty? Opinion polls over the past several months have shown a majority solidifying in favour of a yes vote. The latest poll indicates 54% yes. When the "don’t knows" are extracted and allocated proportionately to the "do knows" there is a suggestion of 2:1 in favour of the referendum.

The last campaign proved how fickle and unreliable are such snapshots of opinion. They provide no basis for complacency on the yes side.

It’s time to get real about referenda in this country. Public opinion has rightly raged against the deferential status that was previously accorded to pillars of society such as governments, politicians, churches and clerics. There is another bastion that needs to come under scrutiny – the Supreme Court. This most august, overriding authority is both unelected and unaccountable.

Supreme Court judges are probably our most learned lawyers. However, they have handed down judgments in relation to referenda that almost render the process unmanageable. I refer to the McKenna and Coughlan judgements. The former imposed limits on state political funding for any one side of a referendum campaign. This spawned the headless chicken of the Referendum Commission. Its publications have often been so bland as to be meaningless. Instead of providing factual clarity it has added further confusion at considerable cost to the taxpayer.

The Coughlan judgement provides a template for the broadcast media in covering a referendum campaign. The Broadcasting Commission (BCI) requires 50% equal air time to both sides of the argument. This is irrespective of the topic or logic.

Little wonder the Government is shying away from a children’s rights constitutional amendment by way of referendum. Justices of the Supreme Court were probably never in a broadcast studio, put up a poster or participated in any referendum campaign. Their rulings are impractical and make the process hazardous. Given these realities, it is difficult to predict with certainty the outcome of our vote this autumn.

The last yes campaign was shambolic. Between Bertie’s lap of honour and Cowen’s coronation, the Government allowed the no campaign to develop irreversible momentum. This was compounded by the inter-party political bickering on the opposition side. Ungracious remarks by Cowen led to a fit of pique by Fine Gael.

While the Labour leadership advocated a yes vote, their organisation was apathetic. The Greens faced in both directions at the same time. Sinn Féin developed their brand of nationalism effectively to sell negativity against Europe. It was left to individuals such as Ruairi Quinn, Garret FitzGerald and Pat Cox to man the breaches on behalf of the yes side. Ultimately, the political establishment delivered too little too late.

The trade union movement tried to secure additional workers’ rights and ICTU failed positively to endorse the treaty. Latent resentment against immigrant workers became a potent issue in working class estates. This was instrumental in a no vote in larger cities.

Rural Ireland was subject to extensive confusion. The IFA sought to leverage the EU stance on the GATT/WTO being adopted by Commissioner Peter Mandelson. This IFA tactic backfired. Despite last-minute yes advertisements, the damage had been done.

If the treaty is to be adopted in Ireland, with our legal revisions, the yes side must start playing as a team. There are complaints that the Government is still not fully involving the opposition parties. A combined approach by the main parties is fundamental to the campaign. The biggest impediment to a yes result is the palpable rejection, unpopularity and even contempt for politicians across the country. The recent elections provided a kicking for the Government parties and the emergence of protest politicians whose core value is to oppose anything emanating from the Dáil chamber or Government Buildings.

There are two schools of thought as to the effect of the economic recession on the referendum. Either we will be so concerned about our economic future that we will turn towards Europe or it will be used as a further protest vehicle by voting no.

On June 12, 2008, the Lisbon vote became a magnet for every form of disaffection. Unemployment, dropping living standards, Government cutbacks, tax hikes, fuel prices, fishing woes, farm incomes and even Dustin’s debacle in Eurovision were all contributory factors to a national mood of antagonism.

OUR newfound wealth was a mirage, based on a credit bubble and false property values. We now face the harsh reality of earning a living through exporting goods and services abroad.

The EU project has its definite defects. Enlargement eastwards is not good news for Ireland. Brussels bureaucracy had got out of hand. There is little appetite for a federal, integrated Europe. The continent can never be monocultural. My consistent view has been that our ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is not primarily about its contents, rather Ireland’s relationship with the EU.

We suffer from the disadvantage of a small population base (less the 1% of the EU total). Our location couldn’t be worse – the most peripheral westerly island. We depend on foreign direct investment for employment and output.

Our manufacturing base of 90,000 jobs is predicated on multinational investors and markets, especially in the sectors of pharmaceuticals and information technology. They like our low corporate tax rate and highly skilled labour force, but they are primarily here because of our place in Europe.

The central questions are whether Europe would proceed without Ireland and can Ireland prosper without being at the heart of Europe? The train is leaving the station. We have to decide whether we are going to stay on board.

[luckee1]

EU agrees Irish treaty compromise

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8106300.stm


EU leaders have agreed a deal they hope will secure the Lisbon Treaty a "Yes" vote in a second Irish referendum.

Ireland won legally-binding assurances that Lisbon would not affect Irish policies on military neutrality, taxes and abortion, diplomats said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said leaders had agreed to Irish demands that the guarantees would be given the status of a treaty "protocol".

But he stressed it would not affect the other 26 member countries.

The leaders have also agreed in principle to a new framework of rules to oversee the EU's financial sector.

On Thursday they backed Jose Manuel Barroso for a new term as president of the European Commission.

Smoothing concerns

Speaking at the end of the summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the agreed protocol was "specific to Ireland".

Gordon Brown outlines significance of deal

"The protocol status is no different from any other clarifications in other states," he said.

He said the new protocol would "only be subject to ratification at the time of the next accession treaty".

He did not give further details, but it is thought it will likely be attached to Croatia's EU accession treaty.

The Lisbon treaty has been ratified in most EU countries and the second Irish referendum - expected to be in October - was the biggest remaining hurdle.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen had said fears that the EU might be able to override Irish policies were among the factors that prompted voters to reject the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum last year.

Supporters of the treaty - a complex set of institutional changes aimed at making the enlarged EU more efficient - were keen to avoid any new round of referendums on it, after years of negotiations.

Sweden, the incoming holder of the EU presidency, was anxious to move forward over Lisbon, especially as Britain's Conservative Party has pledged to hold a referendum on the treaty if elected to government.

Opponents of the treaty see it as part of a federalist agenda aimed at weakening national sovereignty.

Financial concessions

The EU leaders also backed a framework for enhanced oversight of the financial sector, after the UK won key concessions to the plans.

The UK had opposed proposals to give a new oversight body the ability to order national governments to use taxpayer money to bail out failing banks.

"Stronger cross-border supervision is in our interests," Gordon Brown said. "UK taxpayers will be protected. The City of London will stand to benefit from this".

EU plans tougher finance rules

The draft summit conclusions say the European Council - the assembly of EU leaders - "stresses that decisions taken by the European Supervisory Authorities should not impinge in any way on the fiscal responsibilities of member states".

The leaders want the European Commission to deliver detailed proposals for the new supervisory bodies by early autumn, so that the new framework will be in place next year.

In another concession to the UK, a new European Systemic Risk Board will not automatically be chaired by the head of the European Central Bank (ECB).

The ECB will still elect the chair, but the new body will not be controlled by the 16-nation eurozone. The board's job will be to spot any threats to financial stability across the EU.

On Thursday, the leaders unanimously nominated the conservative Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term as EU Commission president.

He had no rival - and even had backing from some centre-left leaders. His nomination now needs the approval of the European Parliament next month.

[luckee1]

Does anyone else get a brain twist with the doublespeak from Brown here?   

[Freeski]

Does anyone else get a brain twist with the doublespeak from Brown here?   

Yup. Here's a simple example of the MINDf**k at work. Sorry but there's no other word for it.

EU agrees Irish treaty compromise

This is what came up when I clicked to the source... so they changed the headline, big deal. Don't they need the word "to" or "on" in there? Need a grammar nazi.

EU leaders have agreed a deal they hope will secure the Lisbon Treaty a "Yes" vote in a second Irish referendum.

Now assuming this was a cut and paste from the link above, it doesn't even make sense. It appears to say that they've agreed to work together to promote a "Yes Vote". Fair enough, but look at it again:

EU leaders have agreed a deal they hope will secure the Lisbon Treaty a "Yes" vote in a second Irish referendum.

This can mean one of two things:

1) they've agreed to an earlier deal (or)
2) they've agreed to a deal that's on the table right now

[Protocol22]

Government faces tough fight, say anti-Lisbon campaigners




Photo: Joe Higgins





The anti-Lisbon Treaty camp today warned the Government to expect a vigorous debate in a second referendum branding EU talks securing Irish guarantees an elaborate charade.

Newly-elected Socialist MEP Joe Higgins claimed the assurances being thrashed out between Europe’s leaders in Brussels had not addressed voters’ concerns.

Flanked by ex-Dublin MEP Patricia McKenna and representatives of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, Mr Higgins said EU chiefs wanted to create a superpower rivalling the US.

“The overall agenda here is quite simply the ruling classes, or the classes of Europe intend to stride on to the world stage as a powerful economic entity,” Mr Higgins said.

“And they want to be as powerful as the US, meaning they want a stronger foreign policy and a military wing to back them up.

“But I can assure the Government that the debate will be a very intensive debate, a very vigorous debate and I think the benefit perhaps this time is that certain distractions that were raised the last time would be set aside, and therefore we can concentrate on the more fundamental issues.”

Mr Higgins said the Government concocted concerns from No campaigners during the last referendum that they could easily claim were bogus during debates.

“Take for example this notion that Irish youth would be conscripted into an army,” Mr Higgins said.

“The only people I heard that from was Government ministers in the course of the campaign who said this is being said. Nobody here raised any such red herring.

“These were the so-called concerns that were being addressed. But the major concerns as to what the Treaty was really about has not been changed one iota.”

Talks between senior government officials across Europe have intensified in recent days ahead of an agreement on new assurances for Irish voters by the weekend.

Mr Higgins said issues such as militarisation, workers’ rights and the opening up of health and education services to privatisation have not been addressed.

He also claimed the Government would try to “terrify” people over the economic crisis in a second referendum.

Ms McKenna said the legally binding guarantees on taxation, neutrality and ethical issues held little sway as the ultimate interpretation of the Treaty lay with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Asked if the no camp could win a second referendum, Mr Higgins claimed they were in with a fighting chance.

“I in no way concede the Government is going to win, the debate is yet to be held,” he said.

“It’s true they’ve had a lot of press over the last few days over these guarantees, all this distraction, but we will clarify all those issues in the course of the debate.”