Ireland Passes the Treaty of Lisbon
October 5th, 2009 at 8:04 am - by Blake Allen
The Irish Republic has now ratified the Treaty of Lisbon after voting in its second referendum on the matter in under two years. The treaty will not take effect until all 27 EU member nations agree to the terms, however, and both Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to do so.
What is the Treaty of Lisbon?
Signed in the Portugese city of Lisbon on December 13th, 2007 the Treaty of Lisbon looks to reform the functioning of the European Union in multiple ways which include the creation of a new post known as the High Representative of Foreign Affairs to present to the international community a unified position on EU policy. Additionally, a shift is sought from a unanimous requirement as is currently needed to pass decisions in the EU, towards more of a majority system.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights would also become legally binding should the Treaty of Lisbon be enacted.
Perhaps the most well-known reformation proposed by the Treaty of Lisbon however is the creation of a President of the European Council who would serve a term of two and a half years.
Support in the Irish Republic.
It was only 16 months ago that the Republic of Ireland, the only country in the 27 member European Union to hold a referendum on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, voted the Treaty down in a 47% yes - 53% no nation-wide vote.
The change in Irish public opinion is likely due to the legally binding garuntees made by the European Union that the Treaty of Lisbon will not impede on Irish sovereignty in the areas of taxation, military neutrality, and abortion rights which were all highly contested issues brought forward in Ireland during the first referendum.
The current economic situation in Europe has likely been a motivator for this change of consensus, ias has the endorsement and support of the Treaty by all major political parties in the Irish Republic, except Sinn Fein.
The second referendum was held on October 2nd and the results announced the following day with the “no” side only winning 33% of the vote this time while the “yes” side recieved a definitive victory claiming 67% of the vote.
Opposition to the Treaty of Lisbon.
However, two countries within the European Union, the Czech Republic and Poland, have not yet ratified the Treaty of Lisbon. The parliaments of both these nations have already approved the Treaty, and Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland, is expected to ratify the treaty shortly. Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic has refused to sign the treaty until his country’s constitutional courts have ruled on the documents validity, an investigation sparked by claims from members of the Czech senate that it violates Czech law.
Opposition to the Treaty of Lisbon isn’t just present in the Czech Republic however. The national election scheduled 8 months from now will likely see Conservative David Cameron take control of government. Cameron, said on the subject, that “if the treaty is not in force when the election is held, and if we are elected then we will hold a referendum on it.” Most polls indicate that a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon in the United Kingdom would fail to pass.
