A REAL IRISH HANG-OVER

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EUROPE DOES A POST-MORTEM ON LISBON

VOTE IN IRELAND SYMPTOMATIC OF CONTINENTAL DISQUIET

"Video: euronews - reporter - Morning-after effect of Irish 'No' Euronews"


It's Not Just The Irish Who Don't Want A USA of Europe

Lamentations and cries for revenge, dark threats and cold pronouncements continue to issue from the Brussles Mafia, as Ireland remains steadfast in her rejection of any further Americanization of Europe. Rumblings from beneath the bureaucratic crust of Europe portend a potential earthquake. The Tories in the UK have themselves an issue they may ride to power. They are finding allies in Czechoslovakia and Poland. If the Irish are not beaten down before the British elections, resurgent Conservatives may unite with Irish socialists and nationalists to kill the Lisbon Treaty. All that means is that life goes on as before. This is not what power-hungry leaders in France may want, but it may be what they will get.


BELFAST TELEGRAPH
"Two-thirds of voters more convinced by 'no' campaign"

' More than two-thirds of Irish voters found the 'no' campaign in the Lisbon Treaty referendum more convincing, according to a poll conducted by the European Commission. Some details of the poll were published by the EC shortly after the referendum last month, but a more in-depth analysis released today shows that just 15% said the 'yes' side was more convincing. Sixty-seven per cent said they were more convinced by the 'no' campaign. Just over one-fifth of those who voted 'no' said they did so because of a lack of knowledge. The 'no' vote was higher among women, younger voters, manual workers and people with lower levels of education. '

FINANCIAL TIMES
"Hague looks at Lisbon treaty"
Brits don't like Lisbon, either.

' An incoming Conservative government in Britain would try to kill off the European Union’s Lisbon treaty, unless Ireland reverses its No vote on the controversial text before the next UK election. William Hague, the Conservatives’ foreign affairs spokesman, called on EU leaders to “declare the Lisbon treaty dead” and to concentrate instead on making the Union work under its existing rules. In the week Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, urged the Irish to reverse their No vote, Mr Hague warned that his eurosceptic party stood ready to drive the final nail into the treaty’s coffin if it were to win the next general election, expected in 2010. Mr Hague told the Financial Times a Conservative government would hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty, unless it had been ratified by Ireland before the next British election. “We would withdraw ratification by Britain and subject it to a referendum, in which we would recommend a No vote,” Mr Hague said. Opinion polls suggest Britain would almost certainly reject the text. But his promise to stop what he calls “the centralising ratchet” of the EU – epitomised by the Lisbon treaty – is a signal that he is prepared to put Britain at the head of what he believes is a ever more sceptical mood among European voters. '

EUROPEAN UNION PORTAL
"The Treaty at a glance"
Eurocrats try the soft-sell.

' On 13 December 2007, EU leaders signed the Treaty of Lisbon, thus bringing to an end several years of negotiation about institutional issues. The Treaty of Lisbon amends the current EU and EC treaties, without replacing them. It will provide the Union with the legal framework and tools necessary to meet future challenges and to respond to citizens' demands. '

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IRELAND LEADS EUROPE AGAINST THE "EUROPEANS"

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POPULAR VOTE CONTRADICTS OFFICIALS' LINE

NOBODY SHARES THEIR VISION OF AN UNEQUAL, MILITARISTIC, ANTI-WORKER EU

Eurocrats Scramble To Salvage Lisbon Treaty

Average citizens across Europe have made it plain: They've had quite enough of European union already, thank you. The initial idea of a borderless customs union with only one currency seemed OK. But living in a fullblown right-wing United States of Europe, behaving like Bush's Cowboy Nation, waging wars like EuroRambo, that's not the average Sean, Jean, or Jan's idea of a bright future.

Now the Brussels Mafia are hinting at carrots & sticks: Sweetening the pot, and ordering sovereign, elected governments to go back and force a Yes vote on their constituents. It's this kind of attitude, this sort of behavior, this sort of arrogant impolitic stupidity that has killed further integration and centralization of the European Union.

Countries like the Czech Republic who only just escaped from the Soviet Union, and the Nazi Reich, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire before that, are not so anxious to give it all up to live under the French or the Germans.

The Irish may yet force a scaling back of the whole corporatist vision of a new Europe. The Eurocrats say they want a new vote out of Dublin by October of this year. Irish opposition Party Sinn Fein (which means "Ourselves Alone," by the way) have demanded respect for Ireland's traditional neutrality, support for social progress, protection of workers' rights, Fair Trade over Free Trade, continuation of low local business taxes, no privatization of public services, the retention of their own permanent EU Commissioner and their existing voting strength on the EU Council, plus the right to veto or opt-out of certain policies & programs. How much they get remains to be seen. But even the suddenly Eurocrazy Brits are grudgingly admitting that the Irish will get a better deal now, no matter what. Looks like they were smart to fight the giant. Not the first time, for them.


AN PHOBLACHT
"Vote gives Government a strong mandate"

" Mary Lou McDonald said that, throughout this referendum campaign, a number of specific issues came up over and over again – Ireland’s loss of power in Europe including the loss of a permanent Commissioner, neutrality, the race to the bottom in wages and conditions and the opening of key public services to competition. She explained that many of these same concerns were raised by the people of France and the Netherlands when they rejected an almost identical package in 2005. And they have been raised by many political voices across the EU over the last 12 months. "

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
"Irish revote likely on EU treaty"

" Nevertheless, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who will take over the rotating EU presidency on July 1, is anxious to proceed with ratification in the remaining countries and will visit Ireland next month for talks on how to proceed at the next EU summit in October. 'You could hear very clearly from Sarkozy's press conference [on the first day of the summit] that he wants this treaty to go through,' says O'Connor. 'He won't accept no for an answer.' "

FINANCIAL TIMES
"Czechs refuse to give Lisbon treaty pledge"

" Ireland's rejection of the treaty, which aims to give the EU a platform for projecting its influence more effectively around the globe, has plunged the 27-nation bloc into crisis just when it is eager to brandish its credentials to the US, China, Russia and others on fighting climate change and boosting financial stability. Mr Sarkozy, Ms Merkel and others wanted the Brussels summit to send a clear message that the Irish problem was isolated and it was full steam ahead for the Lisbon treaty in all eight countries yet to ratify it. However, the Czech Republic refused to play ball. 'I am not going to force members of my parliament to support Lisbon, and I would not bet 100 crowns on a Czech Yes,' diplomats quoted Mirek Topolanek, prime minister, as telling his fellow leaders. Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, antagonised his EU partners by declaring the treaty dead after Ireland's No in its June 12 referendum, a result that put wind in the sails of the antiLisbon forces in Mr Topolanek's ruling party. The treaty is undergoing scrutiny in the Czech constitutional court, where a verdict on its compatibility with Czech law is not expected before October. "

BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE
"Europeans Don't Want United States of Europe: Michael R. Sesit "

" The goal of the Lisbon Treaty is to improve the operating efficiency of the EU. It calls for a semi-permanent, unelected presidency to replace the current system in which individual governments head the union on a six-month rotating basis. The treaty also includes an expanded foreign-policy and defense apparatus, and calls for more decisions to be made by weighted- majority vote, instead of the requirement for unanimity that generally prevails. "

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