Another week, another debate

Last week was an eventful one. The early part of last week saw Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche quoted as describing those who oppose the Lisbon Treaty as follows: "Eurosceptics, some from very shadowy backgrounds, some from the extremes of the left or the right in European politics, few who have been elected and fewer still who have made any positive contribution to the sum total of human welfare". I responded in a press release expressing my hope that the debate on the Lisbon Treaty would be free of some of the unpleasant and unhelpful political name-calling that has characterised other treaty debates (see reports here).

The following evening I spoke at a public meeting in the Rivercourt Hotel in Kilkenny on the Lisbon Treaty. The meeting was organised by the Forum for Europe and Declan Ganley, Chairman of the Libertas group, was the speaker on the No side (the Irish Times's report is here). The meeting was well attended and representatives of most of the main political parties were present. I was the first speaker and began my talk by emphasizing the extent to which Ireland had benefited economically from its membership of the European Union. I was surprised that when he spoke, Declan Ganley did not make any specific points about the likely economic impacts for Ireland ratifying of the Lisbon Treaty. Instead he just made what I felt were general assertions about the fact that he believed the treaty would be disastrous for Irish business, but did not use any examples to support this view. Interestingly enough the woman representing IBEC in the audience sharply disagreed with him!

The discussion was opened to the floor and it was interesting to listen to the range of issues that were raised. I was struck by the number of people present at the meeting who stated that they had no information about the treaty and wanted to know where they could source relevant documentation (A copy of the Forum on Europe's Summary Guide to the Treaty of Lisbon was made available to everybody present and the IIEA's recent publication on the treaty was also brought to their attention).

The debate in which the audience participated highlighted some of the main concerns that people had in relation to the treaty. Reference was made to the fact that the treaty was just the 'failed constitution' in another guise, and that Ireland was the only country in which the people were being consulted. There was talk about 'political elites' and the use of the process of parliamentary ratification to 'by-pass' the will of the people. Others spoke of the diminished levels of influence that they believed Ireland would have as a small country under the new institutional arrangements contained within the Lisbon Treaty. Particular concern was expressed over the loss of a Commissioner per Member State. (Few in the audience seemed to appreciate that the Commissioners are supposed to represent the Community interest and take an oath of independence on taking office!).

It was asserted that the new Passarelle clauses within the Lisbon treaty meant that the people need not be consulted in future in relation to treaty changes (I pointed out that this was not so and that in most cases any changes to the treaties would have to be ratified according to the constitutional requirements of each Member State, as has been the case to date). Some concerns were expressed about the likely powers of any new President of the European Council. I expressed my view, based on my analysis of the treaty text, that the new President would have no executive powers as such, but rather would chair meetings of the European Council and serve as a representative of the EU on the international stage. I'm not sure whether anyone "won" the debate on the night but certainly I was left with the feeling that many people in the audience felt that they needed to attend several more such debates before they would be ready to make an informed decision on the treaty in the referendum in late May/early June.

Later that week I chaired a debate on the Lisbon Treaty in Blackhall Place, sponsored by the European Commission. The title of the debate was "Should Ireland ratify the EU Reform Treaty (Lisbon Treaty)?" This all-Ireland event provided an opportunity for trainees in the Law Society (Dublin), Law Society (Cork), the Kings Inns and the Institute of Professional Legal Studies in Belfast to debate the treaty. It was a fascinating exchange of views and the issues of 'competence creep' and 'legitimacy' got a very good airing! The speakers from the Law Society Dublin who spoke in favour of ratifying the treaty won the debate. One of the speakers from the Kings Inns won the title of Best Speaker on the night. Their Excellencies, the Ambassadors of Austria and Croatia were in the audience and both made very memorable contributions to the general discussion that followed the formal debate. I look forward to participating in many more such quality debates before the referendum this summer.