French President will argue for a second Lisbon Referendum for Ireland

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that without ratification of the Lisbon Treaty there can be no further enlargement of the European Union.
Sarkozy was speaking on French television as France prepares to began the six month French Presidency of the European Union in July.
Commenting on Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty on 12th June, [...]

The Ratification Process for the Lisbon Treaty

The Treaty of Lisbon was officially signed by the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU Member States on 13th December 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.

To come into force, the Treaty of Lisbon has to be ratified by all 27 Member States. In the conclusions of the European Council on 14th December 2007, the [...]

Lisbon Treaty Ratification to Proceed in Britain

The High Court in London has rejected a lawsuit that sought to block Britain’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
The treaty was defeated in a referendum in Ireland earlier this month.
A businessman had brought the case to try to force the British government to block ratification claiming there was a ‘legitimate expectation’ of a public vote.

The [...]

What would the Lisbon Treaty really have meant for Ireland?

These are just some of the Key Points:

1. Loss of Sovereignty
The Treaty provides for the appointment of a permanent EU president, elected by European leaders. It also creates an EU foreign minister, termed the “High Representative”.

This official will have the power to create foreign policy without consulting member states (Article 18).

2. Elimination of National [...]

Lisbon Treaty Decisively Rejected: Result Just Announced

Irish voters have rejected the Lisbon Treaty.

With results in from 39 of the 43 constituencies, the Lisbon Treaty was beaten by a margin of 53.6% to 46.6%.

A total of 752,451 people voted in favour of the treaty and 862,415 voted against.
Just 10 constituencies – Clare, Dublin South, Dublin South East, Dublin North, Dublin North Central, Dún Laoghaire, Kildare North, [...]

Prime Time Announces referendum turnout 10 minutes after closure

The last item on the Thursday Edition of the RTE Programme “Prime Time” was to announce the turnout for the referendum, which was said to be in the early to mid forties.
The 6pm edition of RTE News had earlier stated that turnout was slow in many areas at that point.
The report went on to say:
“Many [...]

See Andy Storey of Afri on plans for the EU Military and the Lisbon Treaty

” Afri, in common with other campaigning groups, has long been concerned about what it sees as the growing militarization of both Irish and European Union (EU) policies and actions. In the Irish context, this trend is evident in the usage of Shannon Airport as a critical staging post for the transit of US troops [...]

Joe Higgins on Neo-Liberal Reforms to the Irish Health Care System

” There is grave concern about our health service. The system is underfunded and two-tiered, with conflicts between private interests and patient care. Closure of public hospitals is matched by incentives for private for-profit operators. Most people are unhappy with this and think health should not be a commodity to be bought and sold: that [...]

EU Defence Plans will advance the moment Lisbon is ratified

Irish Government asked for discretion on new French plans for European defence.
A “confidential” of the Barber dated from May 21st states that ” the white book on defence and security, which defines the big strategical orientations of France for next fifteen years, will not be made public before June 12th “.
The plan of the White [...]

Economist Magazine state that the Court of Justice will have final say in Social and Economic Disputes

Proponents of the Lisbon Treaty argue that it is designed to make EU institutions more efficient and to “streamline” decision-making after the union’s enlargement to 27 nations.
The EU’s voting system is to reflect a nation’s population size. The changes will be phased in between 2014 and 2017. After that, a majority vote in the Council [...]