During the campaign in Ireland I really should have stayed on top of the issues. I just looked at the Libertas webpage and at there 8 points to say "No". Lets have a look:
1. Creates an unelected President and a Foreign Minister of EuropeWhat a great way to make an objective argument. First misrepresent how the President will be chosen and what is job is then claim some bullshit about where he will reside and how he will travel.
The new President and Foreign Minister for Europe will be appointed by the European Council by qualified majority vote. Although many of the terms and conditions of these roles have yet to be decided, they will be committed through the Lisbon Treaty to “drive forward” the agenda of the Council and discussions have already taken place to provide a presidential palace and executive jet for the President.
2. Halves Ireland’s voting weight while doubling Germany’sBash Germany. While at the same time lie about the voting system. There is a double majority system (number of countries and population size), therefore there is no single voting weight.
The Lisbon Treaty would implement a new system of voting by the European Council which is primarily based on population size. This means that Ireland’s voting weight would be reduced from 2% at present to 0.8% if the Treaty was implemented, while Germany’s would increase from 8% to 17%.
3. Abolishes Ireland’s Commissioner for five years at a timeRepeat: Bash Germany. And again tell bullshit about how losing a commissioner will affect countries. Every country will have the same amount of time a commissionar irrespective of size. And that is supposed to favor large countries!
The Lisbon Treaty proposes to reduce the number of Commissioners to two thirds of the number of member states. This would mean that, on a rotating basis, Ireland would have no seat for five years out of every 15 in the body that has the monopoly on initiating legislation. This would clearly affect a small country like Ireland to a far greater extent than, for example, Germany which is having its voting weight doubled under the Treaty.
4. Opens the door to interference in tax and other key economic interestsAgain: Lie! The council can not change taxes without unanimity. All the other things they write are distractions from this central points.
Article 113 of the Lisbon Treaty specifically inserts a new obligation on the European Council to act to avoid “distortion of competition” in respect of indirect taxes. The proposals for a common consolidated tax base and the commitment of the French government to pursue it combined with a weakening of Ireland’s voice in Europe through the loss of a permanent Commissioner and halving of its voting weight represent a clear and present danger to our tax competitiveness.
And this goes on like this in this other points. Libertas are really a bunch of suckers!
7 comments:
I've never seen it discussed anywhere where the EU president would live or how he/she would live.
I thought that a Commissioner is not a representative of his country, but to work for the interests of Europe in a portfolio?
We already know that the No won on spurious arguments.
Even more worrying is the lack of a positive programme, something Libertas has said it is only now starting to think about, although preparations for a European campaign seem to be gathering speed at a practical level.
e.s.laporte,
Discussions on the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty have been going on between the representatives of the member states' governments during the Slovenian Council presidency, although the French presidency was planned to be the time for decisive discussions.
The job description, salary, staff and perks of the semi-permanent president of the European Council have been discussed.
There seem to be differences of opinion as to the role of the president of the European Council.
But it is hard to believe that the member states would end up with a pauper president living in a youth hostel. The president is their creature, after all.
Predictably, the English EU-hostile blogosphere eagerly gobbled up every rumour about ideas floated.
Since the member states have kept the lid on, there is very little objective information to go on with regard to this or other questions about implementing decisions under preparation.
By the way, the information problem is of a general nature. Since the intergovernmental negotiations take place behind closed doors, they actually invite speculation.
The ridiculous part is that insecure countries like Cyprus now want to vote against the treaty after the NO of Ireland which is a lot to blame on the lies that have been spread. I so want to just smash something up now... I do not want to believe that lies win. Why were these people so naive?
Irish vote survey:
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_245_en.pdf
@EU law blog: From what happend in Irleand Cypries learned that you have to say no to get the goods.
@e.s.laporte: The Irish vote survey is very interessting, I am surprised that the majority of young people voted against Lisbon.
@Grahnlaw: I agree, if there is no information given, speculations will gain ground. The whole process should have been more transperant.
From what happend in Irleand Cypries learned that you have to say no to get the goods.
That's what I was thinking to myself. They'll probably ask for some goodies to come there way. It's ridiculous.
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