If you spend enough time listening to the Yes and No to Lisbon Treaty campaigns you could be forgiven for thinking Lisbon is a magic cure for all Ireland’s economic woes or a document which champions rampant capitalism and militarism.
Many on the Yes and No side have spent the past few weeks indulging in scaremongering, half-truths, distortions, and dubious claims in order to convince people to vote one way or the other.
Is there a way to pick through the treaty and find out what is actually in it, as opposed to what is not there? Can we sort out what the treaty says definitively on a subject from those areas where it contains only aspirations?
NUI, Galway’s Dr Laurent Pech is a man who can provide answers. Although he is open about being a supporter of the Lisbon Treaty, he approaches the subject from a purely legal point of view, assessing the treaty on its merits as a legal document.
From that assessment, Dr Pech believes Lisbon proposes “modest” but “positive reform” of the EU institutions that will, over time, be seen to be beneficial.
Dr Laurent is originally from Aix-en-Provence in south east France and is the Jean Monnet Lecturer in EU Public Law at NUI, Galway. He has written widely on EU and legal issues and is the author of The European Union and its Constitution - From the Treaty of Rome to the Lisbon Treaty (Clarus Press, 2008 ).
The Lisbon Treaty is a complex, difficult document, full of ‘legalese’, that is mainly concerned with reforming the EU institutions. It is hardly the kind of thing to get voters excited.
“Lisbon is an amending treaty, it’s very technical and difficult for people to understand,” Dr Laurent tells me as we sit in the university Quadrangle for the interview on a Tuesday afternoon. “That is not done intentionally, it’s just that it’s a complex document.”
Dr Laurent says Lisbon’s objective is to make the EU institutions “more efficient and more democratic”, to “improve the effectiveness of the decision making process”, and ensure the EU can function with 27 (and in the future more ) member states.
According to Dr Laurent, if the treaty is passed a number of important reforms will come into affect.
“You can expect more powers to be given to the EU parliament and more powers will be allocated to the national parliaments complient with the principle of subsidarity,” he says. “This means that the EU can only legislate on an issue when it would be more affective than national legislation, an example would be in terms of climate change.
“Also, under Lisbon, if one-third of national parliaments disagree with a proposed piece of EU legislation, then they are entitled to ask the EU Commission to reconsider that proposal. The Citizens’ Initiative will also come into affect. If one million EU citizens want to legislate on an issue they can submit a petition to the Commission. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights will give a clear bill of rights to the EU but it does not extend the powers of the EU.”
The issue of rights has come up in the Irish Lisbon campaign, with many fearing Lisbon will actually undermine workers’ rights within the EU. Dr Laurent disagrees.
“Lisbon sees the protection of workers’ rights as a fundamental right,” he says. “The EU institutions will now be legally obliged to pay due respect to workers’ rights when they legislate. The objectives of the EU mention full employment and the fight against social exclusion as key objectives.”
Lisbon’s critics also argue that the treaty is promoting the kind of aggressive, unregulated, laissez-faire, adn frank.ly dangerous capitalism that has brought the world into its largest recession in 70 years. Dr Laurent, however, says Lisbon is neutral on economic policy.
“It is for member states within the council of ministers and the EU parliament to decide whether they want to impose regulations on the financial sector,” he says. “Lisbon is about what decisions should be adopted from the procedural point of view and it refers to economic and social objectives. In other words, it doesn’t preclude more regulation or a more social EU.”
Staying with economics, the Yes side claim that voting for the Treaty will be good for jobs and the economy. Can this treaty really be the solution to Ireland’s financial woes?
“Legally speaking Lisbon does not contain provision for affecting employment,” says Dr Laurent. “It is within the competence of each member state’s government to create jobs. The EU can help financially. For example, you can see what the EU did for Dell workers in Limerick.
“I think it’s a matter of trust. If we ratify Lisbon, businesses will have confidence to keep investing in Ireland. It has more to do with the environment in which the treaty is ratified then it has to do with the treaty itself.”
As always when it comes to EU referenda, the subject of Irish ‘neutrality’ and concerns over the possible militarisation of the EU come to the fore of debate. No campaigners point out that Articles 21-55 and 326-334 and Protocol 10 of Lisbon all focus on EU militarisation. Is this not something Irish voters should be concerned about?
“In line with previous treaties, Lisbon contains provisions on foreign affairs and security. It does not change radically the current legal provision as far as Ireland is concerned,” Dr Laurent says. “Lisbon will not affect Ireland’s tradition of neutrality.”
Dr Laurent explains that the principle of unanimity - everyone being of the same mind - is still “very much the rule” and that the triple lock system - which requires the approval of the Government, Dáil, and UN, before the Irish Defence Forces can participate in any military action - cover Irish concerns in this regard.
“The defence policy of Ireland will not be affected unless the Irish Government decide to participate in the area of EU security and defence policy. Ireland has also received legal assurances that will allow it to opt out of the Mutual Defence Clause and the Mutual Solidarity Cluase.”
