The "No camp" in the 2009 referendum in Ireland

Résumé du document

To understand the context, we have to go back a couple of years, 2008. As we know, there was the first Lisbon referendum, that we can also call The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008, which had the goal of the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. Most of the European countries ratified the treaty in a parliamentary process, without the opinion of the population, like in France in 2008. This solution could be seen as a way of imposing the decision on the people of the country. Ireland is the only country that has held a public referendum on the Treaty. The first vote happened in 2008 but the Irish people have decided to say 'no' for the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. These results have been a real surprise for the European Union. The major problem of this negative answer was if one of the countries disagrees, it is impossible to put in place the treaty. To be more precise, we have found some of the reasons which could explain the Irish vote. These main points were about the military neutrality, the abortion, the taxation of the country, the preservation of the commissioner for each country of the European Union. The European Council has shared in the wills of Ireland and decided to meet requirements of this country for a second vote for the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon. In 2009, Ireland finally said yes. But, what are the reasons for this decisive change? It is important to understand well the European background and precisely the Irish situation to analyze the decisions taken by the Irish people, and what are the consequences?

Extraits

[...] http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/1005/1224255887045.html ; consulte le 23 fevrier 2010. http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2009/10/03/le-oui-l-emporterait-au- referendum-irlandais_1248697_3214.html ; consulte le 24 fevrier 2010. http://www.affaires-strategiques.info/spip.php?article1955 ; consulte le 3 mars 2010. http://www.gaelick.com/2009/09/the-lisbon-treaty-voting-again-the- %e2%80%9cguarantees%e2%80%9d-the-treaty/3523/; consulte le 3 mars 2010. http://www.egeablog.net/dotclear/index.php?post/2009/07/19/Referendum- irlandais ; consulte le 15 mars 2010. http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/europe/deal-a-l-irlandaise-autour-du- traite-de-lisbonne_773627.html ; consulte le 15 mars 2010. http://www.latribune.fr/actualites/economie/union- europeenne/20090617trib000388882/traite-de-lisbonne-accord-en-vue-sur-les- garanties-accordees-a-l-irlande.html ; consulte le 15 mars 2010. http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2009/10/03/les-principaux-points-du- traite-de-lisbonne_1249028_3214.html ; consulte le 28 mars 2010. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574404643114251588.ht ml ; consulte le 10 avril 2010. http://www.eirigi.org/campaigns/no_to_Lisbon.html ; consulte le 10 avril 2010. [...]

[...] So, European Council decided to hold this referendum again without this ignorance about the topic. To convince Ireland to do another referendum, they had to give some guarantees at the hands of Irish reluctances. All the preoccupations that Irish had, had been reconsidered by the European Council. The contents of the agreement obtained between all the European countries were to ensure military neutrality of Ireland, low taxation, its prohibition of abortion and the number of commissioners. After this agreement, Ireland accepted to hold the referendum again in 2009. [...]

[...] A major part of the Irish population agree with the referendum, we have asked some questions about the fact that nowadays Ireland is the only European country where people can take their own decisions for their country: “this is more democratic and allows citizens to feel more engaged with European Union issues, there is a feeling in some countries that the citizens do not have enough say in politics, our systems allows for more involvement” said Angela O Keefe, a teacher of economy. The European Union has met a lot of failure to put in place its proposals. Before the year of 2008, the European Union was scheduled to take place a referendum in 2005 or 2006 to establish a Constitution for Europe of the European Union. This one had been canceled after the rejection of France and the Netherlands. European council has renegotiated a long time before a signature in Lisbon by the European countries. [...]

[...] Declan Ganley was not the only person against the Treaty of Lisbon, there were also the Coir, the National Platform, the Peace and neutrality Alliance, the Socialist Workers Party, the People's Movement, the Sinn Fein, the Socialist Party, the Workers Party and the EFD. The arguments to fight against the new treaty are similar. For the Eiregi party, it is clear that the European Council had not changed the last Constitution of Europe which had known a failure in France and the Netherlands by referendum. For them, they “renamed the “Reform it is like an excuse. [...]

[...] The Treaty of Lisbon does not range over the low taxation of Ireland. But this low taxation is one of the most important advantages of the country. For example, a tax rate low allowed Ireland to increase its trade. For the Noniste (people who are for the for a referendum), the European Union will try to harmonize taxation for all the European Country, it will harm to Ireland. The reaction of the European Union has been quick because they knew that they needed to have the agreement of all the European countries to put in place the Treaty. [...]