More Lisbon Aftermath

So we’re being given until November to “sort out the problems for Europe that we have created”.

First reaction: Lisbon was supposed to come into effect in January, so is this an effective admission that it’s dead? I hope so.

Second reaction: Ireland did not create this problem. The problem was created by the EU leaders who tried to ram through a Treaty that had already been rejected in two referenda, in an incomprehensible form so that the people would not understand what was being forced on them, and without listening to what the people of Europe wanted. The problem was created by EU leaders who expanded the EU too far, too fast, before considering how the EU institutions could work in an expanded EU.

My message to Brian Cowen, Enda Kenny, Eamon Gilmore, and John Gormley: go to the EU and tell them to come back with a Treaty that is in the format of the original Constitution (i.e. not a huge list of amendments, but one readable document) which places democracy at the heart of all EU decision-making, which does not treat smaller states as add-ons to the EU, and which allows us to keep a firm control over areas which are best handled at national government or local government level in Ireland. Do that, and I’ll work day and night for a yes vote.

I’m not a Eurosceptic; I think the EU is a great idea, it’s been great for Ireland and the Irish people, and for most everyone in the EU. And it could be great for the new accession states too. The EU, after all, is not a thing in itself; it’s made up of national governments, and is only as good as the people in those governments and the rules of the club. It will only be as good in the future as it has been until now if it is based on the fundamental principles of democracy, and subsidiarity (i.e. decision-making at the lowest effective level).