Friday, June 13, 2008
Ireland Votes NO to Lisbon Treaty!
Irish voters reject EU treaty
Ireland today decisively rejected the Lisbon treaty on European Union reform, plunging the project into chaos.
The European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, said he believed the treaty was still "alive", but was immediately contradicted by Luxembourg's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker – the longest serving leader in the EU - who said the Irish vote meant it could not enter into force in January 2009 as planned
(link via guardian.co.uk)
Eighteen countries have already ratified the Lisbon Treaty and it was due to come into force on January 1 if all nations agreed.
Ireland was the only country to hold a referendum on the issue.
I don't profess to understand all the implications of the proposed treaty but so far I haven't been convinced by any of the politicians that it would be a good thing, so I'm grateful to Ireland for their decision to reject the Lisbon Treaty of the European Union. Thank you Ireland!
The EU's Lisbon Treaty explained in simple terms by The Telegraph
What will the EU look like if Lisbon is passed? Lisbon Treaty explained - YouTube video produced by Galway for a Democratic Europe - Vote No
Edited to add a link to an excellent post to explain the referendum result today and the repercussions:
Hurrah for the Irish! on the BillCarmichael blog. (thanks for the link, Flighty!)
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If all the countries held referendums it would be interesting to see the results. I think that the EU would be shocked at the numbers of voters who'd vote against it.
ReplyDeleteLike you I've never been convinced that it's a good thing. xx
I think you're right that if all the countries were able to hold referendums, the results would be very interesting. In fact, I'm fairly sure the majority would vote against it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your view ... and supporting my view!
You're welcome and here's a good blog entry about it...
ReplyDeletehttp://billcarmichael.20six.co.uk/billcarmichael/art/40561906/Hurrah_for_the_Irish_#comm
Wow - that is an excellent post about it - I think I will add it to my post. Thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, and thanks for the linked mention.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read what the papers, including the Guardian and Independent, wrote about it yesterday. xx
Yes, indeed, all the news reports are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm baffled that the Minister for Europe, Jim Murphy, said that the vote in Ireland did not mean the treaty was dead. How can that be? I certainly don't understand it.