Republican Yes & No Leaflet

First, the NO leaflet: this No to Lisbon Two leaflet (below) was put together by an RSF Cumann in Dublin Mid-West and hundreds of them have been distributed on a door-to-door basis and in pubs, clubs, etc. over the past two weeks by members of that Cumann. Other RSF organisations in Dublin and throughout the State will be distributing similar leaflets between now and October next -


The YES leaflets: these are new full-colour recruitment leaflets which, again, have recently been distributed by RSF members and supporters in the Dublin area: distribution will be nationwide over the coming weeks -


Both leaflets are being very well received by the public, and a positive feedback has been reported from the areas in Dublin where the leaflets have been distributed - YES to RSF membership, NO to Lisbon Two!

Germans Support the Irish NO to Lisbon Treaty Campaign

THE following Press Statement was released by Die Linked following the decision of the German Supreme court and the announcement of the second Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland:

"Karlsruhe has been the obsequies, Dublin will be the funeral" declare Diether Dehm (Spokesperson European Policy for Die Linke in the German Parliament) and Alexander Ulrich (Umpire Die Linke in the subcommittee for European Affairs of the German Parliament) on the occasion of the announcement of a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty being held on the 2nd of October 2009. The MP's addressed the progressive Irish NO Campaign in an open letter expressing their support for the sovereign decision of the Irish people. Dehm and Ulrich further elaborate:

"The decision of the German constitutional court on the Lisbon Treaty was a great success for DIE LINKE and EU-citizens. The German parliament retains the right to decide upon military interventions as opposed to as set out in the treaty. The welfare state and the German basic law cannot be undermined on the basis that the treaty has nothing to offer in that regard.

“The position of the German left remains clear: The Lisbon Treaty has been designed under the influence of the very same policies which are responsible for the current economic crisis, the erosion of the living standards of the majority of the people, the increasing militarisation of international affairs and the democratic deficit of the EU.

“Specifically workers, women and young Irish citizens are concerned about workers rights and neutrality voted no. Of all things among the so called guarantees to Ireland workers rights remain without obligation. Hence, a successful European integration needs a different and better treaty. An opinion poll by EMNID recently found that this is also the view of the majority of the German people. We therefore support as the majority of the Germans the struggle of the Irish people against the Lisbon Treaty."

Press Statement from the Peace & Neutrality Alliance

THE Peace and Neutrality Alliance condemns the decision of the government (26-County Administration) to spend a massive amount of money sending postcards to all households on the so called legal guarantees the government intends to add as a Protocol to some treaty sometime in the future.

Roger Cole, Chair of PANA said on July 6:

"In a debate in the Dáil, Minister Martin said PANA had been looking for a Protocol and then when we achieved it, still opposed the treaty. Quite simply either Minister Martin is stupid or is very badly informed, and in PANA's view he is not stupid, therefore he can only be very badly informed.

"PANA, since our formation in 1996 has sought a Protocol similar to that achieved by the Danish people that excludes them from paying for or involvement with the process of the militarisation of the EU. Recent public opinion polls in Denmark showed that the Danish people wished to retain their Protocol.

"The Minister however is now about to spend a massive amount of money sending postcards to all households telling them about Protocols that do not exclude Ireland from paying for or involvement with the militarisation of the EU. In any democratic society the media would at least inform people of the truth about PANA's clearly defined position on the kind of Protocol they sought, especially as the two TSN/MRBI polls held in May and June 2008 showed that concerns over Irish Neutrality was one of the major reasons why the people voted NO to the Lisbon Treaty. The government destroyed the National Forum on Europe to prevent democratic debate and the bulk of the corporate media by refusing to report the truth are colluding with this attack on democracy."

Statement from the National Platform EU Research and Information Centre

The Dáil and Seanad should insist on parliamentary control over the Taoiseach and Government Ministers in exercising the self-amending powers of the Lisbon Treaty, just as the German Constitutional Court requires the German Parliament to do.

Ireland should not be content with a lesser standard of parliamentary control of Government Ministers than Germany if the Lisbon Treaty should be ratified.

The Government should make provision for Oireachtas control of Lisbon's self-amending powers in legislation accompanying the Lisbon Treaty Referendum Bill.

Otherwise not only the people, but the Dail and Seanad, would be agreeing to give extraordinary powers to Ministers if the Lisbon Treaty should come into force.

The Simplified Treaty Revision Procedure proposed by Lisbon (Art.48.7, amended Treaty on European Union) would permit the Prime Ministers and Presidents on the European Council to shift European Union decision-taking from unanimity to qualified majority voting in most of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union (TFEU), as long as they agreed this unanimously amongst themselves.

This could apply, for example, to the Treaty article dealing with harmonising indirect taxes (Art.113 TFEU), where unanimity is currently required

Lisbon also has several "bridge articles" or "ratchet-clauses", which would allow the European Council to switch from unanimity to majority voting in certain specified areas, such as judicial cooperation in civil matters (Art.81.3 TFEU), in criminal matters (Art.83.1 TFEU), in relation to the EU Public Prosecutor (Art.86.4 TFEU) and the Multiannual financial framework (Art.312.2 TFEU).

While the Lisbon Treaty provides that National Parliaments have to be notified of shifts from unanimity to qualified majority voting in some, though not all, of these cases, National Parliaments are not required to give their formal agreement. The Taoiseach and Government Ministers would be able therefore to exercise these powers without proper parliamentary control.

Of concern also is the enlarged scope of the "Flexibility Clause" (Art.352 TFEU), whereby if the Treaty does not provide the necessary powers to enable the Union attain its very wide objectives, the Council of Ministers may take appropriate measures by unanimity.

The Lisbon Treaty would extend this provision from the area of operation of theCommon Market, where it operates at present, to all of the new Union's policies directed at attaining its much wider post-Lisbon objectives. The Flexibility Clause has been widely used to extend EU law-making over the years. The consent of National Parliaments is not required for Government Ministers to use it.

As the judgement of the German Constitutional Court states (par. 414): "To the extent that the general bridging procedure pursuant to Article 48.7(3)TEU Lisbon and the special bridging clause pursuant to Article 81.3(3) TFEU grant the national parliaments a right to make known their opposition, this is not a sufficient equivalent to the requirement of ratification. It is therefore necessary that the representative of the German Government in the European Council or in the Council may only approve the draft Resolution if empowered to do so by the German Bundestag and Bundesrat within a period yet to be determined ..."

And again: " ...the silence of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat may not be construed as approval." (par. 416)

As things stand, Ireland's Dail and Seanad will be expected to remain silent while Irish Government Ministers exercise these extraordinary new powers at EU level in a post-Lisbon EU - unless legislation comparable to what Germany's Constitutional Court proposes makes their actions subject to parliamentary approval in advance, and subject indirectly to the approval of Ireland's citizens.

On Tuesday the German Constitutional Court ruled that ratification of the Lisbon Treaty would only be constitutional for Germany if parliamentary control - and indirectly citizens' control - over German Government Ministers operating at EU level were instituted in these "self-amending: Treaty areas as well as in certain other areas mentioned.
This should also be done in Ireland.

Web-site: nationalplatform.org