'No to new Federal-style European Union!'

Speech by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, held in Dublin and Galway, September 2009.

"UNDER Lisbon, a new EU would be created which would be a supranational Federation, in effect a United States of Europe," said Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President of Republican Sinn Féin on September 21 in Dublin and September 22 in Galway.

"This is the central issue which is being avoided by the 'Yes' advocates. They are pursuing other matters and ignoring this vital point.

"If people grasped that core of the whole question they would be much more likely to vote 'No' to Lisbon. In summary Lisbon means more power to Brussels and less power in Ireland.

"In addition, it would radically shift control of the EU towards the Big States by basing its law-making primarily on population size. While Germany doubled her voting power to 17.1the 26-County State is halved to a mere 0.8%.

"The right to veto harmful measures in more than 50 areas of policy will be lost. The arrangements proposed add up to a power grab by the Big States and the Brussels bureaucracy. Further political centralisation is what it is all about.

"The right, as at present, to propose and decide who will be a Commissioner will be replaced with a right to make suggestions only for the incoming Commission President and the Big States to decide. This move from a bottom-up to a top-down appointment process has also been ignored by the 'Yes' side of this debate.

"In military matters, Lisbon would require more to be spent on equipment and this could see deep cuts in funds for education, health care, social welfare, pensions and the like. As members of an EU federal state, countries would have to go to the aid of any other member state under attack. This is surely a military alliance like NATO and contrary to the idea of neutrality.

"Then there has been the attack on workers' rights by the EU Courts of Justice rulings in the Laval and related judgements. These put the competition rules of the EU market above the right of trade unions to enforce pay standards higher than the minimum for migrant workers.

"Under Lisbon these judgements would become part of EU case law and institutionalise them. Also Lisbon would give the EU full control of immigration policy.

"To sum up, Lisbon would turn the 26 Counties into a regional or provincial state within this new Federal-style European Union, with the EU's Constitution and laws having legal primacy over the Constitution and laws of the state. That alone should motivate people to vote 'No' on October 2."