Emotions run high on Lisbon Treaty

Americans disagree on many things but agree on one big thing. Europe agrees on many things but disagrees on one big thing which is why opposition to the Lisbon treaty is so strong in Ireland.

A treaty vote in Ireland is an emotive issue. The country was plunged into civil war following a vote on a treaty in the 1920s. The Good Friday Agreement (in effect a treaty) in 1998 was enacted after a referendum. The Irish even know how to reject a treaty and then have it flung back in their faces.

The Nice Treaty for greater expansion was rejected in 2001 only for another vote to be held in 2002 to make sure the "right result'' was achieved.

And on Thursday the Irish, alone of the European nations, are being asked to vote on the Lisbon Treaty which is ostensibly meant to make Europe more efficient and workable.

If so, why not let the rest of the European Union vote on it? For instance why not let the UK vote on it? The simple answer is that it would be roundly defeated as it would in France which already blocked the treaty's first draft in a referendum three years ago.

In a massive boost to the Irish ''No'' vote the French foreign minister warned Ireland that a "No'' victory would be met with "gigantic misapprehension''. This from the foreign minister of a country that rejected the first draft!

There is sizeable opposition to Lisbon among many Europeans and the reasons are clear. At the heart of Europe there is a deficit of democracy and because of this nobody knows just what Lisbon stands for.

Information on the proposed Citizens' Initiative, on the referendum commission's own website - whereby at least one million citizens from "a significant number" of member states could ask the commission to bring forward proposals on a particular issue - is nonsensical.

The Commission would be obliged to "consider" the proposal, but "the details of how this would operate have yet to be decided".

The feeling that the treaty was written by bureaucrats using bland jargon is reinforced with the far from convincing explanation of commissioner numbers.

It states that if the treaty comes into force then two-thirds of the member states will nominate a commissioner in 2014. "There are 27 member states at present," it claims. "So, if the number of member states remains the same, there will be 18 commissioners in the period 2014-2019."

It continues, "The right to nominate a commissioner will rotate among the member states on an equal basis. This means that each member state will nominate a member of the commission for two out of every three commissions (that is, 10 of every 15 year cycle)." Now comes the punchline: "The precise details of how this will operate in practice have yet to be decided."

Power lies with the commissioners but just how they will operate has "yet to be decided''.

This borders on the ridiculous. The Irish are being asked to vote on a treaty whose wording is not exact but is meant to make Europe more efficient. Nonetheless, the Irish are taking the vote seriously.

All the main political parties are backing the "Yes" vote and an Irish prime minister actually admits to losing his job partly because of it.

Bertie Ahern stood down in May as Taoiseach because it was feared corruption allegations against him would help the "No'' vote capitalise on his unpopularity. Ahern actually gave this as one of the reasons for his shock resignation.

Momentum

Two days before the vote, with Ahern gone, and the momentum is with those ready to vote against it. The Irish are getting tired of being told how rude it would be of them to vote against Lisbon when they benefited so much from Europe.

But in 1973 when they joined the then European Economic Community they knew what they were getting (continued economic ties with co-joiners Britain) with the European Community in the 1980s they knew what they were getting (the first benefits of European integration), with the European Union in the 1990s they knew what they were getting (an economy hot-wired to Europe).

But with Lisbon they are being asked to vote for vagueness and a sense that their own influence as a small nation will be diluted on the altar of greater European co-operation, whatever that means.

The Irish are not anti-Europe, they are staunchly pro-European but there is a feeling that Lisbon is as substantial as a blank cheque which only they have been asked to sign.