6/13/2008

Irish reject new EU Treaty

The Irish were the only people allowed to vote on the new EU treaty (their constitution mandates it), and they have apparently rejected it. Personally, I think that this is good for the EU because the treaty was centralizing power even more than it otherwise is and that allowing competition between the different governments over policy is good. The BBC has an article here:

Under Irish law, any amendment to an EU treaty requires an amendment to the Irish constitution and all constitutional amendments require approval by referendum.

The official result is not yet in, but Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says substantial vote tallies around the country show the Lisbon Treaty has been rejected.

"It looks like this will be a 'no' vote," Mr Ahern said. "At the end of the day, for a myriad of reasons, the people have spoken." . . .

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who campaigns for Britain's exit from the EU, said: "The only people to have a say on the treaty have kicked it into the long grass." . . .


This vote was supposed to finish the treaty, but you get this response from the EU president.

Despite pronouncements that the treaty would be shelved if the Irish voted against it, European Union President Jose Manuel Barosso said it is still up for discussion.

"Our position is this one; 18 member states have already approved the treaty. One, Ireland, voted no. We should go on now with the process. At the same time, the leaders should meet should meet and see what possibilities are there for a collective response to this issue, because there is a collective responsibility," he said. . . .


The final votes was 53 percent "NO" and 47 percent "YES."

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is great news!

The right to referenda on EU leg which significantly affects the Irish constitution were secured by a citizen taking the irish Govt to court.

From what I can make out, the treaty text is totally unreadable and requires that you keep referring to the texts of previous EU treaties and the shelved EU "constitution".

I suspect that the majority of European nations would have voted the same way if their politicians hadn't been so arrogant in denying them the chance to vote.

-but then representative Govt has never been a big thing on the continent of Europe. The arrogance of various kings Louis, various Napoleons, Stalin, Musolini, Franco, Tito etal has.

Keith.

ps,sent you an email link to article on estimated cost to tax payer of junkies....

so much for prohibition

6/13/2008 12:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good for the Irish. Lucky for them they had a chance to vote. Here in Italy no way we are ever going to vote, we just have to accept what our "wise" politicians decide for us. Not even the media have spoken much about this so called "constitution".

6/14/2008 5:05 AM  
Blogger Bert Rustle said...

For a thorough and concise ongoing analysis of the EU and the largely partial and inaccurate reporting of it in the UK see http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/

6/15/2008 4:29 AM  

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