Yes or No to Lisbon?

  MEPs on both sides battle it out in Midleton

By Jonathan Meaney

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TWO Members of the European Parliament (MEP) were in Midleton on Friday to speak about their opposing views on the Lisbon Treaty. Ireland will, this year, hold a referendum that will determine whether or not the treaty will be ratified. On the ‘Yes’ side was MEP, Brian Crowley, and fighting out of the ‘No’ corner was Sinn Fein MEP, Mary-Lou McDonald.

Speaking to the Midleton Post, Brian Crowley stated that: “The original basic text, the Rome Treaty, was for six countries. Now we’ve got 27 countries, so we need to make some changes”. The Fianna Fail MEP said that Ireland, up to now, has always managed to get decisions to swing its way in Europe. But if Ireland rejects the treaty: “On a 50/50 call, when Ireland needs the ball to fall our way, it won’t happen. If we hold Europe back, we will be the ones that suffer”.

Mary Lou McDonald told the Midleton Post that the public need to examine the treaty on its own merits. “I don’t accept this idea that we will be marginalized our punished for rejecting this treaty”. She also claimed that: “The treaty undermines our clout in EU institutions, and removes our automatic right to a commissioner. As a small member state, we need to protect the clout that we have.  It would be reckless and irresponsible for us to accept this treaty because it will damage the strength we have in EU institutions”.

Under the treaty, the number of commissioners will be reduced from 27 to 18, meaning each country will not have a commissioner representing them for five years of a 15-year period. Brian Crowley says that this will make Europe operate more efficiently, and that losing a commissioner for a period will not make a huge difference, because under the treaty, all legislation proposed must be approved by over two-thirds of member states.

“This treaty gives the power to national parliaments to look at legislation before it is amended or changed. National parliaments have the opportunity to say that: ‘No you shouldn’t be doing this. This should be dealt with on a national or local level’. If a third of the parliaments reject the legislation, the commission have to review their position. If half reject it, then they have to withdraw it”.

He also made the point that the last two secretary generals of the European Commission have been Irish, and expressed that he does not believe that our influence will be diminished by this treaty.

Mr Crowley also highlighted that this treaty will be the first to consider areas such as climate change, sport and human rights. He said: “There are new areas and new threats out there, in particular climate change, which are now included in this treaty”.

“Areas like sport are now being mentioned for the first time. With all this debate about obesity and the protection of sport, Europe is now saying it needs to be involved in supporting countries in areas such as this.

“The Charter of Fundamental Rights is attached to this treaty, which sets out the rights all people have in relation to their interaction with the EU and its institutions. It’s about minimum wage, the protection of housing rights, disability rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, discrimination, and so on. This is the first time these have ever been part of the European text”.

Ms McDonald made the point that the treaty will undermine worker’s rights and public services in Ireland. “I think we need a European Union that respects the market but draws the line at public services. We’ve been asked to sign up to this without any assertion of our won values and traditions,” she said.

Mr Crowley declared: “I think Sinn Fein is incorrect in saying this. There is nothing in this treaty our any treaty that forces the government to do anything about public services. And in regards workers’ rights, you only have to look at our experience with Europe, and that experience has brought us the improvement of social rights and worker’s rights. The Irish minimum wage, which is the highest in Europe, was a not an Irish government decision, that came out of Europe”.

One issue that has also been debated is Ireland’s neutrality. Mr Crowley stated that “Ireland’s neutrality cannot be impacted by any decision taken at a European level”. However Ms McDonald claimed that our neutrality has already been jeopardised by making reference to the use of Shannon Airport by American troops.

With Sinn Fein being the only party in the Dail against the treaty, they have an uphill battle in the referendum campaign, but the Sinn Fein MEP told the Midleton post that she is confident they can win it. “There’s no doubt it’s a big challenge, but I think we can win this campaign, because it is a bad treaty. The arguments on the ‘yes’ campaign, are very reluctant to get into the specifics of the treaty, and that’s because it is a bad deal”.

Whether this treaty is ratified will be up to the voter. Both sides are fighting a strong campaign, but both sides also acknowledge that the treaty is a complex one, and are recommending that the Irish voters familiarise themselves with the treaty, in order to make the right decision.