Independent.ie

By Address with Editor

Tuesday June 24 2008

IRELAND, using what the whole of Ireland thought was a democratic system, has said a clear ‘NO’ to the Lisbon Treaty. Others might disagree as to the outcome of the vote Ireland had, but still that vote took place with voters thinking that their wishes would be respected. It looks like the voters, as far as you’re concerned Mr Cowen, were wrong.

You have decided to say the equivalent of “stuff ye all” and do what EU bullies are telling you to do. You are second-grading the voices of the population that has placed you in the position of power you hold. It appears you have decided to force the Irish people to vote again because you didn’t like the result the first time!

If you cannot represent the thoughts and wishes of the people on this island called Ireland Mr Cowen, then it’s time for you to go. You are supposed to be working for the people of Ireland, not the thugs and bullies of the EU, particularly French President Sarkozy and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Using a supposed democratic legal system, the Irish people were given a choice. Now, because your real masters are not happy with our decision you have, it appears, decided to totally ignore the voters, bide your time and try in a while to shove another vote on the Irish people again.

This is no longer about who is right and wrong in a ‘YES or ‘NO’ vote. This is about representing the people that voted in what they thought was a democratic vote. You will be a disgrace to the system of democracy with a forced re-vote. This is about having the courage to stand up to the thug bullies of Europe and say “No, you cannot push us around!”

They all agreed and signed up to a legally binding democratic system. Now that it hasn’t gone their way, they want to force the little voters of Ireland into giving them their way. Every child in Europe’s playgrounds knows that’s called bullying! Are you Mr Cowen, turning a blind eye to their attempts at pushing the people of this island around? Are you going to stand up and actually do something about it?

Mr Cowen, if you and Fianna Fail decide to force a second vote on us, here is a message from the people of Ireland… Do the decent thing — quit.

Address with Editor

EU leaders don’t take Irish ‘No’ for an answer

Respect the Irish Vote: Aftershock in European Parliament

European political elite is trying to overtake the legitimate results from Ireland. Observers of political life can see “young and restless” politicians like the Finnish Foreign Minister Mr. Stubb who have to exercise the same repetitious subliminal messages in line with “Lisbon is not dead”and similar.

“The treaty is not dead. The EU is in constant crisis management - we go from one crisis to another and finally we find a solution,” Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb told reporters, noting the bloc had dealt with past voter setbacks.

However Europeans defending democracy already respond to such attempts or provocations. In Facebook there are notable shifts to the groups like “Respect the Irish NO: stop ratification of the Lisbon Treaty” with already over 1.200 members.

In such Facebook groups one can find many useful hints on what to do and where to click - for example if you are British citizen your most efficient action for beginning would be to sign the petition…

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Respect the result of the Irish referendum and abandon the attempt to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.”

Europe in action!

…and Margot in turmoil:

Also do check other related videos e.g. “Reaction”.

Statement from TEAM, The European Alliance of EU-critical Movements

14.06.2008

The result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is a triumph for democracy. The Irish voters have rejected a treaty that is undemocratic and militaristic. They have thereby rendered all Europeans an enormous service, opening new possibilities for a cooperation among the European peoples that is democratic, equal and peaceful and respects the sovereignty of each member state.

TEAM, The European Alliance of EU-critical Movements, a cross-political network of more than 50 organisations from over 20 countries, notes that the Lisbon Treaty has fallen and that the ratification process in other EU-member states should be called off immediately.

The German chancellor and the French president claim in their first reaction to the result of the Irish referendum that the Lisbon Treaty is necessary “in order to make the European Union more democratic and efficient”. In other words - in order to make the EU more democratic it is necessary to ignore the result of a truly democratic referendum. This statement reveals the degree of hypocricy in the EU-elite!

The EU-constitutional project has thrice failed to pass its democratic test: in France and The Netherlands in 2005 and, in a slightly made-up version, in Ireland in 2008. The EU-elite should realize by now that the peoples of Europe want a different form of community, based on other values. Its unwillingness to do so, however, makes it the more important that all committed citizens and organisations initiate discussions, create visions and forward-looking proposals pointing out the many possibilities for a truly democratic and peaceful European cooperation.

TEAM shall gladly contribute to this process, and expresses its warmest gratitude to the Irish people for giving all Europeans the possibility of doing so.

Thank you Ireland!
Congratulations Europe!

TEAM is a cross-political network of more than 50 organisations from over 20 countries in and outside the EU.

For further information please contact: coordinator Jesper Morville, jespermorville@mail.dk, or secretaries Blaž Babič, blaz.babic@amis.net or Argo Loo, looargo@yahoo.com.

Here are links to LIVE RESULTS:

1. RTE on renamed EU constitution, a.k.a. The Lisbon Treaty that wasn’t…
2. The Irish Times on the same piece of treason…

ADDITIONS:
No side leading across Ireland
Irish voters set to reject Lisbon Treaty

The National Platform EU Research and Information Centre
24 Crawford Avenue
Dublin 9

Tel.: 01-8305792 ;
Web-site: nationalplatform.org

                 Media statement

Thursday 12 June 2008

                            TODAY'S LISBON TREATY VOTE

Whether people vote Yes or No to the Lisbon Treaty today, Ireland’s national interest and the best interests of future generations here and across Europe undoubtedly call for a No vote, for the reasons set out in the article below.

The Lisbon Treaty would endow the legally new European Union which it would establish with a revamped version of the EU Constitution that was rejected by the French and Dutch peoples in 2005.

This post-Lisbon EU would, inter alia, have the constitutional form of a supranational EU Federation, in which Ireland would be reduced to the status of a provincial state from being a sovereign one hitherto. Irish citizens in turn would be constitutionally transformed into real rather than symbolical citizens of a Federal European Union, rather as American citizens are citizens also of their local American states, or Federal Germany’s citizens are citizens of Germany’s Länder. Regrettably, this constitutional revolution which Lisbon would bring about in the EU itself, its Member States and in the civic status of four million Irish and nearly 500 million Europeans has scarcely been referred to in Ireland’s referendum debate.

The main reason for this is the failure of the statutory Referendum Commission to carry out its function of explaining the “subject matter of the proposal” in the Constitutional Amendment, “and its text”, which is what people have been voting on today.

written by Arnaud HERVE

There are those who oppose anything European, those who accept anything European as providence, but there are also those in-between who desire a stronger Europe, while keeping a critical attitude as regards its democratic deficit. For the critical Europhiles, it was very good news indeed when the “European political parties” were created.

They are also labelled “European parties a European level” or “Europarties”. They were were embryonic in the treaty of Maastricht in 1992 (section 41), confirmed in the treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 (Article J.18 and Article K.13), but it is really the treaty of Nice in 2001 (Article 2, section 19) that granted them an autonomous status.

If you Sense that you Might Someday rue a “yes”, Please Vote “no” on Lisbon

Unlike the Irish, hundreds of millions of other persons in Europe haven’t been enabled to step up to the ballot box with our opinion of the Treaty of Lisbon. This makes me regard Ireland and the quality of democracy in your country with a tinge of envy.

Over the years, we’ve seen many incremental changes made to the EU, from the initial unassuming brainchild of a Coal and Steel Community to arrival at a Customs Union and the EEC, building up eventually to the European Union. Instead of being accidental, a methodical process is being revealed to us.

by Arnaud HERVE, Brest, France
arnaudherve@gmail.com

As public life across Europe becomes more politically correct every year, it is becoming more and more difficult to describe the coarseness, wiliness, the mixture of irrationality and lies of real-life historical strategies. It is also becoming »incorrect« to take time to display how far international decisions can be absurd, so deeply absurd. All those things that seem so dignified now, and in fifty years will be described as reckless, last-resort and slightly ridiculous political moves.

You remember the Rome Treaty, supposed to be the foundation of Europe in 1957? Nobody is telling you presently that you should be cautious about that, right? During this campaign in Ireland the general agreement is that such an old treaty shouldn’t be debated any more, right? That it is a decent, basic text that should be left to some academics in some history classes for specialists, and that as modern and responsible citizens you should concentrate on present practical issues.

Well, I can tell you a secret. Try to look on the Internet for videos of the signing of the Rome treaty. You will see decent gentlemen, all so poised in their elegant suits, signing the treaty in a large prestigious Italian building, as decent heads of States should. Take time to rewatch the hands of those gentlemen signing the common document. The secret is, only that precise page of the Treaty of Rome was printed. The rest of the document was blank. It was a blank, white, empty stack of paper. The poised gentlemen signed a treaty that was a fraud.

by Laurent Dauré & Dominique Guillemin

On February 4th, the French Parliament voted in the bill modifying title XV of the French Constitution in Versailles, and three days later, on February 7th, the Treaty of Lisbon was formally ratified.

The Lisbon Treaty, which provides for the reform of the EU’s institutions, was drawn up to replace the draft European constitution, which was first rejected on May 29th, 2005 by 55% of French voters and then on June 1st, 2005 by 61% of Dutch voters.

How did we go from the voters’ refusals to the adoption of the text by Parliament in 2008? Before the 2005 public vote, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, chief author of the constitution, declared: “It is a good idea to have chosen the referendum, so long as the outcome is yes.”(1) And one year later: “The rejection of the constitution was a mistake which will have to be corrected.”(2) In spite of the French and Dutch NOs, some countries did adopt a constitution which had little chance of success, an indication that the initial project was not amendable: “If it’s a Yes, we will say ‘On we go’, and if it’s a No we will say ‘We continue.’ (…) If at the end of the ratification process, we do not manage to solve the problems, the countries that would have said ‘No,’ would have to ask themselves the question again.”(3)

Many unclear and foggy manoeuvres will remain the trademark of this year’s ratification process.

Due to diverse legislation procedures in all 27 EU member-states it is hard to keep track of specific ratification in one member. In this manner Austria only yesterday legally ratified the REC (Lisbon Treaty) when their President “Heinz Fischer on Monday (28th of April) signed the Lisbon Treaty “after conscientious examination of all the factors,” thus formally finalising the ratification process in Austria.

And EUobserver continues with logical conclusion that “ten other countries have ratified the document.”

What is more worrying is that it’s so hard to find any news on the status of specific ratifications - in Czech Republic and in Germany ratifications are legally and practically still far from finalisations. In Slovenia the Constitutional Court still has not found the time to investigate possible breaches of Constitution regarding holding a referendum. We have seen news from Hungary that individual court cases have been raised.

However if it’s Ireland we have to be worried about - apparently the skies are becoming clearer by the day: “Polls are narrowing”. Also people in Ireland are measurably (62%) under-informed over the gargantuan treaty.

Fact is - we have to prepare ourselves for “the day after”. It will be Friday June 13th and it will be a good day for Europe and the World if this monster of a treaty is stopped.

NEWSFLASH: Quite a charming news came from the Great Britain yesterday (2nd of May). Namely millionaire Stuart Wheeler has succeeded in gaining leave to appeal from the High Court over the government’s refusal to hold a referendum on the EU (constitutional) Lisbon treaty. The proceedings started last month and now two judges have ruled that there is an “arguable case” which warrants of full hearing. This, we are told, is likely to take two days, scheduled for 9-10 June.

Although Mr. Wheeler is considered by many as a man of good fortune it would not go well in the history of the Great Britain and Europe in general if he would be stood out alone with quite enormous litigation costs on his own back. Therefore he did make space for his kinsmen and other European activists to help him in the legal quest for justice, democracy and freedom.

Interesting - on 9th and 10th of June mr. Bush of USA comes to Europe and on 12th of June Ireland tosses the dice.

At the EUDemocrats website this news broke out:

A new scandal was revealed today, Thursday April 24th. Twenty eight (28) leading multinational companies have had their own lobbying office in the European Parliament, with Parliament’s telephone number and address.

Members of Parliament have been involved in a special board for this secret lobbyist activity. Their group leaders have known nothing about their involvement. The MEPs have been handpicked to serve business interests under the leadership of the Spanish Vice President, Vidal-Quadras, Chairman of EBPS, assisted by a Parliamentary board including John Bowis (EPP-ED), Lena Ek (ALDE), Angelika Niebler (EPP-ED), Edit Herczog (PES), Manuel Medina Orterga (PES) and Dirk Sterckx (ALDE).

Big multinational companies, namely, Gas de France, Telefonica, Thalys, British American Tobacco, Unilever, Ericsson, Microsoft and others are involved.

The European Parliament and Business Scheme (EBPS) were set up by former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox. He is now a leading business consultant and President of the International European Movement. He is also campaigning for a Yes to the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish referendum foreseen for June 12, 2008.

The scandal was revealed during the Conference of Presidents meeting today in Strasbourg. Green party leader Monika Frassoni informed her colleagues, and they decided by a majority vote to ask the College of Quaestors to end this lobbyist activity.

The European Parliament shall decide about lobbyism in the mini session in Brussels on May 8. This is also the last voting day for the President of the Group for Independence and Democracy, Jens-Peter Bonde, who was recently elected president of EUD –a political party at European level aimed at improving democracy and transparency in the EU.

Bonde was quoted as saying: “I have asked the Parliaments’ leadership to establish a full investigation on how this secret working group could be established behind the necks of all group leaders”.

In future we will list all the flaws from the YES side in Ireland (fake media reports on the assault on the MEP, deceptions by Barrosso and others, problems with taxes and farmers). Today’s story will definitely add to the swing of many Irish voters towards rejection of the Renamed EU Treaty.

What will be after the Irish referendum? Friday the 13th. Good Friday mind you, get ready.

4th of March 2008

“France was just ahead of all the other countries in voting No. It would happen in all Member States if they have a referendum. There is a cleavage between people and governments…There will be no Treaty if we had a referendum in France, which would again be followed by a referendum in the UK.”
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, at meeting of MEP Group leaders, EUobserver, 14 Nov. 2007