The Lisbon YES: Relief

Since until now many posts have already been written already about the results of the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland, I don't need to add much.

What I can add from the bubble is that the smiling face and the deep relief of the European Commissioner I was standing next to when they showed the final results on a TV screen this evening was a good sign how important this result - 67,1% YES at a 59% turnout rate - was for European politicians.

And I can add that I am happy, too, hoping that we'll soon get to end of this pre-reform mess and finally get to the post-reform mess...

A YES to Lisbon would be nice, Ireland!

Dear friends and fellow citizens of Ireland,

I won't make too many words to kindly ask you to say YES to Lisbon tomorrow. There are just four things that I would like to highlight:

1. The Lisbon Treaty is not an evil thing but a compromise made between 27 governments, parliaments, and peoples. It is not less but also not more complex than the previous treaties that formed the basis of our Union. So saying YES to Lisbon is as right as it was to ratify previous treaties.

2. Most importantly, the Lisbon Treaty strengthens the European Parliament, the only EU institution directly elected by us, bringing together women and men directly responsible to us. Saying no to Lisbon would mean to support the continued over-dominance of the member states and their administrators in the European legislative process, making our democratic vote less valuable than it could be with the new Treaty.

3. Saying YES to Lisbon means to end 8 years of institutional debate. It is important that our legal and constitutional basis is discussed, but it is more important that the EU, its institutions, and its officials can concentrate their work on our concrete needs, not just on the abstract dimension of institutional design. The YES to Lisbon will therefore be a YES for EU officials to have more time to focus on us, the citizens, and not on themselves.

4. And saying YES to Lisbon will mean to prevent the division of the European Union. And I don't mean that Ireland would be isolated - which is non-sense, since we all belong together no matter what our democratic decisions are - but that we will get a Union in which groups of member states will try to advance on their own, creating potential conflict and thus a less stronger Union. So the YES to Lisbon will be a YES to a Union of unity, not an EU of the groups and single interests where there will definitely be more losers than winners.

So please, vote YES tomorrow, and then let's continue to work on a European Union from below, where we citizens matter most, not our administrators!

With warmest wishes from Europe,

Julien

German Lisbon Treaty by-laws pass second chamber

Just in case you didn't notice:

On Friday, the Bundesrat, the second legislative chamber of the German federation in which the 16 federal regions ('Länder') are represented, has passed the German Lisbon Treaty by-laws that were necessary after the Constitutional Court decision in June ruling that the by-laws were unconstitutional.

In the televised news on Friday they told that the president (who needs to sign the law) will wait for a hint by the Court whether he can sign it or not since it seems that some (unnamed) individuals have again brought an action before the Court.

But since neither the political group of the Left nor the deputies from the Christian Socials, who were the main complainants last time, are opposing the law - which they'd make very clear during an election campaign - I don't see any substantive problems for the President's signature.

The only question will be whether he'll be able to do it before the Lisbon referendum in Ireland...

European Council on 18 & 19 June 2009: Presidency Conclusions

The June 2009 European Council has ended, and the Presidency Conclusions have been published.

The only positive word I can highlight:

"The Heads of State or Government agreed unanimously on the name of Mr. José Manuel DURÃO BARROSO as the person they intend to nominate as President of the European Commission for the period 2009-2014."

Apart from this little word "intend", this decision is a catastrophe for the European Union, as mentioned so many times before.

Taking a look at the rest of the conclusions, it is remarkable that among the quite intensive coverage of the financial crisis and possible measures to counter its effects, the financial situation in Latvia has been particularly highlighted (para. 13) - that is not a good sign.

Interesting is also the following sentence:

"32. The European Council welcomes the intention of the incoming Presidency to develop, in close cooperation with the Commission, a work programme to ensure that there is sufficient time for internal EU coordination and decision-making prior to important international meetings which will prepare the December Copenhagen Conference."

Does that mean that usually the presidency does not provide work plans that allow "sufficient time" for internal co-ordination?

And regarding the special declaration made for Ireland in the Annexes to the Conclusions one can only say that this is nothing but a clarification of the present Lisbon Treaty, that, no matter whether it has legal effects or not, will not change anything.

However, this Declaration is a confession of 27 heads of state and governments that the Lisbon Treaty is so unclear that it needs a special explanation so that the Treaty text can be put forward for a second vote in Ireland.

It is also an expression of the failure of the Irish government to explain the Treaty to its citizens and a sign of weekness of this government if it needs the backing for 26 member states to give these almost self-evident explanations enough political weight.

For the rest, the conclusions are not very interesting, and again written in a catastrophic bureaucratic way. I hope the Swedish Council presidency will have people that are able to formulate such texts more citizen-friendly!

British Irish Rights Watch wins European human rights prize

The British Irish Rights Watch has won the first ever Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Human Rights Prize.

According to the PACE press release, the jury praised

the organisation’s “courageous and outstanding work in monitoring and bringing to light human rights abuses, and its fight against impunity in Northern Ireland”. It also commended the NGO’s “vigilance” in ensuring that measures taken to combat terrorism were in confomity with international human rights standards.

British Irish Rights Watch – which takes no position on the eventual constitutional outcome of the conflict and works with all sides of the community – researches alleged human rights violations, provides consultancy services to lawyers, organises expert testimony and sends independent observers to trials, inquests and inquiries. Much of its work is carried out by volunteers.

Congratulations to the NGO - and let's hope that the peace process in Northern Ireland continues without violence as we have seen lately, full of embarrassment!

EU: UK and Ireland can keep the mile, the pint, and the troy ounce

In a common possition regarding the measurements within the EU, the Council of the European Union agrees that the United Kingdom and Ireland may forever continue to use the "mile", the "pint", and the "troy ounce".

In the first paragraph of the text (dated 09 October 2008) we can read:

Directive 80/181/EEC1 requires the United Kingdom and Ireland to fix a date for ending the exemptions, where they are still being applied, in respect of the units of measurement known as "pint" for milk in returnable bottles and beer and cider on draught, "mile" for road signs and speed indications, and "troy ounce" for transactions in precious metals. However, experience has shown that, given the local character of those exemptions and the limited number of products concerned, maintaining the exemptions would not result in a non-tariff barrier to trade and, as a consequence, there is no longer a need to put an end to those exemptions.

So don't be afraid, British friends, you can remain as you are, you can measure life as you'd like it to be measured. You may remain an exeption and you may keep your exemptions!

Only the acre will disappear forever (para. 10):

Since the acre is no longer in use for land registration purposes in the United Kingdom and Ireland, there is no longer any need to provide for an exemption in that respect.

What a pitty!

Let's remember it by reminding everyone what it was worth: 1 ac = 4 047 m².

One minute of silence...

For all the non-British and non-Irish within the Union, it is still worth to read the document, especially if you wanted to know how exactly to measure 1 Kelvin. You would like to have hint what you need to know for that...? Okay:

0,000 155 76 mole of ²H per mole of ¹H, 0,000 379 9 mole of ¹⁷O per mole of ¹⁶O and 0,002 005 2 mole of ¹⁸O per mole of ¹⁶O

Interested? Then have a look at this precious document!

Tracking: European parliament elections 2009 (XIV)

Only every third Estonian plans to take part in the next European Parliament elections.

And what to do about it? Well, Euractive has discovered the wonderful possibility of the... internet. Wow! The internet! For an election campaign! I definitely like the comment of Clinton's former campaign manager Mark Penn, who tells Euractiv:

"I have no doubt that ten years from now campaigns in Europe will be so much more online and in many ways the internet campaigns will become a lot more of an extension of the EU."

That is the perspective for the EU online election campaign - in 10 years, we might have it.

Maybe more efficient to get more voters to the polling stations is the Irish strategy of holding European and local elections on the same day, on 11 June 2009, almost exactly one year after the "No" to the Lisbon Treaty (12 June 2008).

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Under the category "Tracking: European parliament elections 2009" I am following up national and European activities on the path to the European Parliament elections 2009. So far: (13), (12), (11), (10), (9), (8), (7), (6), (5), (4), (3), (2), (1).

Tracking: EP elections (XI) - supplemented

In Estonia, several high political figures are planning to run for the European elections in 2009 (or at least they are considering it). The names mentioned are Edgar Savisaar, former Prime Minister and controversial Center Party leader, Andrus Ansip, current Prime Minister of Estonia, and Siim Kallas, current EU Commissioner.

In Poland, political parties also get ready for next year's elections.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister and member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has participated in the PES (Party of European Socialists) manifesto discussion.

An Irish businessman and Labour member launched a pro-European group to inform about the EU's work ahead of the upcoming elections.

And the Greek opposition leader Papandreou confirms that the stupidities of the past will be continued in the future saying "the Euroelections will not only be a vote on the course of Europe, but they will have the character of a referendum for the government and its policies to which an end must be put".

Supplement: Dutch right-wing liberals from VVD will rally against Turkish EU membership during the 2009 EU parliament election campaign, demanding a 10-year moratorium on the issue

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Under the category "Tracking: EP elections 2009" I am following up national and European activities on the path to the European Parliament elections 2009. So far: (10), (9), (8), (7), (6), (5), (4), (3), (2), (1).

Denmark in conflict with European Court of Justice

While some say that "there's no news" in August, Le Monde reports:

"Denmark is heavily questioning a judgement of the European Court of Justice concerning the Irish legislation dealing with family reunions. The Luxembourg judges have indicated that the foreign - "non-EU" - spouse of a European citizen could move and travel around with this citizen within the Union without previously having legally resided within one member state. This decision goes against the more and more restrictive policies implemented in that matter in several European Union member states."

(own translation)

(See also the press release [pdf] of the case (N° C-127/08) "Metock and Others v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform".)

That is another example of the tendency of the European Court of Justice to take decisions that are extremely pro-integrationist, especially when it deals with questions of free movement within the European Union.


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Read also:

The Brussels Journal

The Irish fisherwoman surrounded by enemies

I was just about to gag on an article by Bruno Waterfield. In this article about the anti-Lisbon demonstrations in Ireland during the Sarkozian visit, he writes about a fisherwomen:

Her existence fishing the waters around the Aran Islands, like that of all Ireland's fishermen, is a day-to-day struggle with the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy and the powerful Irish bureaucrats that enforce it.

Cliona is the type of person that rational, democratic and progressive societies need. She is self-reliant, outspoken, committed and knowledgeable about her trade and passionate in the defence of its interest.

But her expertise and commitment, like that of people in many other walks of life, is now overridden by the technocrats and "experts" who impose the "we know best" rules and procedures of officialdom.

I was already melted in tears when I continued reading with a citation of this fisherwoman:

"We fish monk surrounded by French and Spanish boats. You are lucky to see one other Irish boat. We can not fish in our own waters," she told me. "But we do see a lot of the Irish Navy because it keeps busy intimidating Irish fishermen to enforce EU rules."

"Irish fishermen are the apex of an upside down pyramid that supports fisheries bureaucrats and inspectors who sit in their suits without a clue about what we do. If the Irish fishing industry disappears it is nothing to them. They are civil servants."

It is exactly this kind of antiquated nationalistic argumentation combining stupidities of "family tradition", the bad "Spanish/French/etc." fishers (who should have no right!!! to fish along the Irish shores), with this notion of evil technical "experts" that keep Europe and the rest of the world apart from solving our common problems.

That the fish stocks all over the European waters are so low that we have to fear the extinction of complete populations of fish can only be solved by "bureaucrats" who try to see the global picture instead of single sad stories mixed with political stupidities. But yes, Mr Waterfield, try to tell us something about a "rational, democratic and progressive society" that will never come as long as such kind of articles help to divide instead of finding common solutions: "Irish waters for Irish fisherwomen." is not progressive, democratic and not rational!

And that Lisbon (compared to Nice) does in no way change the situation of this lady is just another truth ignored in the article. ..

No second referendum in Ireland?

Daniel Hannan, British MEP, reports in his blog after having listened to French president Sarkozy in the European Parliament:

I'm more and more certain that there won't be a second referendum in Ireland. I've just been in the chamber of the European Parliament, listening to Nicolas Sarkozy (and resisting the juvenile impulse to shout levez-vous when the diminutive president rose to speak).

[...]

I can't prove it, of course. I am inferring as much from Sarko's body language and tone as from his words.

I would join Daniel's prediction that there won't be a second referendum in Ireland.

For two reasons: First, this would undermine the credibility of the ratification process. The issue has been much more politicised than in the past and a second referendum would attain too much political attention. And second, politics will be looking for a much secure solution than a referendum. Why? - A second "No!" would be much more disastrous and there is quite a risk that this could happen.