Irish campaigner pleads for EU-wide Lisbon vote
VALENTINA POP
03.09.2008 @ 09:39 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The leader of the Irish No campaign, Daclan Ganley, has renewed calls for an EU-wide referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, as Irish media reported parts of the pact may be ratified by the Irish parliament instead.
"I can tell you as a citizen having read the Treaty and campaigned on it, it is undemocratic and unacceptable to the majority of my country. Nor do I believe it is acceptable to the majority of the citizens in other countries", Mr Ganley said at a public debate in the European Parliament on Tuesday (2 September).
The only chance for a Lisbon Treaty revival would be to hold a pan-European referendum, says Declan Ganley (Photo: EUobserver)
In the view of Mr Ganley - who dislikes being labelled as "anti-European" - the Lisbon Treaty has no future, but if it were to be revived, the only option would be to hold a pan-European referendum.
Recognising the need for a new treaty that responds to the current international situation, Ganley said that the only viable formula would be a text "that is short, readable and that everyone gets to vote on."
Asked if he plans to run in the 2009 elections for the European Parliament, the head of Libertas said he didn't take that decision yet.
He was also unwilling to give any details about the external funding received by his campaign, adding just that "all of the money that Libertas has raised will be disclosed in due course, under the regulations that both parties have made themselves."
On Monday, the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, had called on all member states to ratify the Lisbon Treaty "as quickly as possible," saying the Georgian crisis proved why it is important for the EU to be united.
The view echoes previous comments by French president Nicolas Sarkozy following the outbreak of the Georgia war.
"Some people are saying that Georgia - which has changed the atmosphere in Europe - could be used as a pretext for the Irish to hold a second referendum," a European Commission official said.
The irish No campaign saw the Lisbon treaty defeated by a margin of 53 percent in June.
Meanwhile, the Irish Independent newspaper has reported that Irish prime minister Brian Cowen in comments after the EU's Georgia summit on Monday backed plans to pass the treaty without a second mass vote.
"My reading of what he [Mr Cowen] said was that one option was to remove all elements that are impacting on the Irish Constitution and for the Parliament then to approve by parliamentary ratification the non-constitutional elements," Irish Labour MEP and former social welfare minister Proinsias de Rossa told EUobserver.
"Then we'll have to consider if those elements should be approached by referendum or if opt-outs should be negotiated at a European level in relationship to them."
But no decisions have been made so far, he added. "There are as many opinions on what happens next as there are people in Ireland."
Media impact
A fresh poll by the Irish Sunday Independent suggests that if a referendum were to be held again, 44 percent would vote No (a drop of eight per cent since the last poll four weeks ago) 42 percent would vote Yes (a one per cent increase) and 14 percent are undecided (a seven per cent increase).
An internal briefing document of the European Commission seen by the Irish Times has criticised Irish media for becoming more eurosceptic since the second Nice Treaty vote in 2002.
The paper focuses on the presence of Irish editions of UK newspapers, such as the Irish Sun, Irish Mirror, Irish News of the World and the Irish edition of The Sunday Times.
"Editorial is highly critical of the European Union and even more so of the Lisbon Treaty. What has changed is that these papers were previously printed in the UK, but now they are printed in Ireland. Also more of its editorial content is produced by Irish journalists on Irish issues - but subject to the London editorial line," it said.
The document also highlights the importance of the Internet in the Lisbon No campaign.
"Apart from official websites, the internet has largely been a space left to anti-European feeling."