Thread: EU leaders reassure Irish to revive Lisbon treaty

EU leaders reassure Irish to revive Lisbon treaty

Ian Traynor in Brussels
guardian.co.uk, Thursday
18 June 2009 22.31 BST

European leaders tonight sought to revive the ill-fated Lisbon Treaty reforming the way the EU is run by delivering pledges shoring up Irish independence in the hope of securing a Yes vote in an Irish referendum in October.

But Brian Cowen, the Irish prime minister, told a summit of 27 government chiefs in Brussels that he would not win the referendum, expected on 2 October, unless the "guarantees" were legally enshrined in a new protocol that could cause problems for Gordon Brown and other European leaders by reigniting old feuds over the treaty.

In June last year, the Irish derailed the Lisbon project by rejecting the treaty in a referendum. The rest of the EU has agreed to assure Ireland that the new regime will not affect Irish military neutrality, Â*abortion laws, taxation policy and the Irish are also guaranteed a seat in the European Commission.

The summit planned to issue a "legally binding" declaration on the promises to the Irish, on the assumption that they vote Yes to the treaty which would then come into force next January.

But Cowen told the European leaders bluntly that this was not good enough.

"I need to be able to come out of our meeting and state, without fear of contradiction, that the legal guarantees will acquire full treaty status by way of a protocol," said the taoiseach. "I want to emphasise sincerely that this is necessary if I am to call and win a second referendum."

Leaders had expected to resolve the Irish issue early tonight at the beginning of the summit. But the differences and the implications of the Irish demands saw the attempt to hatch a compromise drag on late into the evening.

With the Conservatives the fiercest opponents in Europe of the Lisbon treaty, Brown's paramount aim is to avoid any changes to the document that might see it returned to the House of Commons.

"The issue for us is you don't want to be in a position to re-ratify Lisbon," said the prime minister. The chances are that the dispute will turn out to be a minor upset – that if the Irish vote Yes and Lisbon is put into effect in January, the wrangling will subside and be forgotten.

But diplomats were worried that the Irish demands could open a can of worms. Turning the Irish guarantees into a "protocol" may require convening a special conference of EU government officials at which other countries could raise extra demands and re-open the debates over Lisbon.

That would be anathema to Germany and France who are keen to see the new treaty implemented. They are also worried about the volatile political situation in Britain and the prospects for the Tories to make trouble.

The Irish dilemma aside, the leaders were also expected to support José Manuel Barroso, the centre-right former Portuguese prime minister, for a second five-year term as head of the European Commission.

But while Barroso faces no challenger for the post and is backed by key leaders like Angela Merkel of Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, and Brown, the attempt to sew up his second term as promptly as possible has backfired and risks degenerating into a humiliating ordeal that could run for weeks or months.

European leaders are split not over the Barroso candidacy, but over how quickly and on what basis to nominate the 53-year-old for a second term. Resistance to the leaders' manoeuvres is mounting in the newly-elected European Parliament which has to endorse the new appointment of Barroso.

The leaders were expected to announce their "political" support for Barroso unanimously, but delay making the decision "legal" until a deal is struck with parliament leaders.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/ju ... pean-union

Related:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-160158.html