The Lisbon Treaty
by LIZ O’MALLEY
The Lisbon Treaty is coming to vote again this September and nobody is actually voting on the document as far as I can tell. On the No side there are those protesting the fact that we’re going to have to vote again after we had a democratic referendum. It’s easy to see their point, especially after Sarkozy admonished us like bad children in front of the rest of Europe. We’re perfectly allowed to cast our vote in any way we choose.
Those on the Yes side have a point too. With people like Libertas and Coir saying that if we were to allow this, why this despicable document to be voted through would open the way for abortion, make taxes higher, and war and all manner of evil things would happen! What better way to show these manipulative liars that saying bad things will happen just because you feel like it means that people are going to turn against you?
It’s a failure that the first Lisbon referendum was run the way it was. This isn’t because we didn’t vote yes, but because of the misinformation and the inability of the government to run a decent campaign. It was appalling, not just that many people were made to believe that things like our neutrality were at risk, but that the people we elected to run the country never came out and said “Lies! All of it!” In fact, given Brian Cowen’s unpopularity it would probably be a lot more helpful for him to turn against it.
It didn’t help that the document is bigger than Moby Dick and more incomprehensible than Ulysses. Most government officials even admitted to not having read it. This is mostly due to the fact that it has to include the same clauses as the Maastricht and the Nice treaties because it is a legal document. Many people were turned off by the length, thinking “Something that big must have a hidden clause that will be the downfall of us!” There are surprisingly few issues that we actually need to know about.
I know quite a few people who are voting no because they think that the EU works better as an economic community rather than a political one and they are entitled to that view. What I dislike are people who vote no because they are ignorant of what the document actually means. Some of the more popular lies are that voting yes will be voting to dramatically reduce the minimum wage and would mean losing our commissioner. The wage thing is a downright lie. As for the commissioner, apart from the commissioner having to work on behalf of the EU and not Ireland, our commissioner has been guaranteed.
Do you believe we should have a head appointed because of their ability to do the job rather than having a rotating presidency? Do you think the Charter of Fundamental Rights should be legally binding? Do you think that the European Council’s meetings should be held publicly and the democratically elected Parliament should have more power? Are you in favour of more double majority voting, meaning that larger countries can’t throw their voting weight around? These are the issues we are voting on.
The truth is, voting on an important legal document shouldn’t be about trying to get back at people but whether you think it’s right. On October 2nd exercise your vote and know what you’re voting for. Anything else is a waste of a vote.
Posted: September 22nd, 2009 under Current Affairs.