Nil, No, Non, Nein, Nyet . . .

Irish Examiner USA

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Don't They Know What 'No' Means?
Charlie McCreevy talks sense, but he still doesn't really understand the European Union

What is it exactly that the Eurocrats think voters mean when they say 'No'?
It obviously doesn't mean the same thing that we thought it did based on their long-lasting reaction to popular referendums throughout the European Union. Ireland's European Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy does (as Charley Brady notes out on the page opposite,) pointing out when questioned that, "It was clearly understood that this treaty had to be ratified by all 27 member states."

Of course, that begs the question of why the British government, and others, despite facing heavy domestic pressure to do otherwise, decided themselves to ratify a treaty that is dead in the water?

The only conclusion from the continuing ratifications is that the Eurocrats are either going to simply change the rules (perhaps they can pass a Weimar Republic-style 'Enabling Act' to allow them to do so) allowing them to forge ahead without Ireland's ratification, obviously assuming that the question will simply be put to the Irish people again, only this time holding a referendum when they (and perhaps the plucky Czechs) are outside of the so-called 'European Mainstream.'

Perhaps they will simply ignore the ratification process and, as they have done before, just dictate the individual sections of the European Constitution Reform Treaty Lisbon Treaty at Inter-Governmental Conferences.

Either way, the Eurocrats continue to display their inherent arrogance and distaste for democracy and the rule of law (except for the flood of EU regulations that they spew forth). Charle McCreevy continued by saying, "I somehow suspect that if any other member state of the EU had to put it before the people, that the result would be the same."

He's absolutely right! The French and Dutch people already rejected this Constitution Treaty once, the British would in a heartbeat, but he seems to have missed the obvious conclusion that that's the reason why the Eurocrats don't want referendums and ignore them when they go "the wrong way."

Irish Examiner USA

www.irishexaminerusa.com