www.irishexaminerusa.com
Wednesday June 4, 2008
Just Say 'No'
It should not be forgotten, that the process by which the Lisbon Treaty came into being was simply another example of the E.U.'s contempt for the democratic process. In just over a week's time, on June 12th, the Irish will be the only Europeans allowed a vote on the 'new' Lisbon Treaty.
We urge all our readers who are registered and eligible to vote in this referendum to register a 'No' vote.
While membership of the European Union has been an overall benefit for Ireland, this does not mean that accepting further moves towards the federalization of Europe and the removal of more powers from your elected officials in the Dáil, transfering them to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels would be good for Ireland in the longer term.
It should not be forgotten either, that the process by which the Lisbon Treaty came into being was simply another example of the E.U.'s contempt for the democratic process.
After finding themselves with a European Constitution that was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands, they simply cut-and-pasted the document together in a different format and gave it a nice new, supposedly voter-friendly name - the 'Reform Treaty' - then relied on the national government's unwillingness to risk their voters rejection in the polling booth (the most egrarious example being that of the U.K. where the Labour government promised a referendum in their election manifesto in 2005 and then abandoned their pledge after they were returned to power).
Some will contend that the Lisbon Treaty is not the European Constitution, but they ignore the statements of politicians across Europe. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany let slip the truth when she said, "The substance of the constitution is preserved. That is a fact."
Or how about Giuliano Amato, the vice-chairman of the convention responsible for drawing up the Constitution in the first place. He was surprisingly honest for an E.U. bureaucrat, saying, "The good thing about not calling it a constitution is that no one can ask for a referendum on it."
If the voters of Ireland - who are in the unique position of being the only peoples in Europe who can stop the ratification - vote 'Yes' next week, then they will begin the biggest transfer of political power from the nation states to the centralised bureaucracy.
If the treaty is ratified, more than 60 areas of national policy will no longer be decided by consensus. Instead a simple majority of nations will set the agenda and policy for all states within Europe.
Presumably these are areas of policy of limited impact? Policies that should rightly be controlled by the new European "super-state"?
Perhaps not though... It may surprise you to know that Ireland would be unable to block policies in areas as diverse as immigration, structural funds, judicial and police co-operation, economic policy guidelines for eurozone members and any initiatives of the new foreign minister and his embassy employees in the new E.U. Embassies that would spring up around the world.
Irish voters have been given a unique opportunity to set the future direction in Europe.
Will you decide to take the road to a undemocratic super state where decisions are taken by unelected committees in Brussels or will you vote for a democratic Europe where you can vote your national leaders out of power if they fail to deliver on their promises?
2 comments:
That Paddy McCarthy is a right "scut" altogether!
Up the Rebels boy!
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