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Themes in the News: Lisbon Treaty
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Ireland rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a national referendum held on June 12, 2008. Both sets of voters -- for and against -- seemed influenced by a myriad of factors. To some extent, this was a reflection of the scope and complexity of the treaty itself. The specific implications of the Lisbon Treaty for developing countries played some role in the campaigns even if it was a relatively small one. It is too early to say what the implications of the Irish vote are. However, some of the arguments and analysis below may be resurrected, particularly if there is a fresh referendum.
The Lisbon Treaty  (also known as the EU Reform Treaty or the Treaty of Lisbon) was expected to have important implications for developing countries and climate change. In some quarters, it was seen as a very positive step. Others expressed concern in the context of EU foreign and trade policies...
News and Features
Lisbon Treaty news from RTÉ
Lisbon Treaty breaking news from The Irish Examiner
Irish Independent: The Lisbon Treaty for dummies (15/05/08) and Your EU
Lisbon explained from the Irish Times:
Part 1 - What is the Lisbon Treaty? (12/05/08)
Part 2 - Does the treaty express new values? (13/05/08)
Part 3 - Do small states and democracy lose out? (14/05/08)
Part 4 - Can EU be a unified voice on the world stage? (15/05/08)
Part 5 - Neutrality undermined, or peacekeeping enhanced? (16/05/08)
Events
The Irish Times's daily Referendum Digest contained news and diary dates.
National Forum On Europe events
In advance of the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon (the EU Reform Treaty), the National Forum On Europe, hosted a series of public meetings around the country, with prominent guest speakers both for and against the Treaty. For further information please contact the National Forum on Europe, T: 6705900, E: info@forumoneurope.ie.
What did NGOs say?
The Lisbon Treaty and Development Dóchas Statement to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs
(May 27, 2008)
Dóchas discussion paper: The EU Reform Treaty from a Development perspective
CORI Justice briefing on the Lisbon Treaty or PDF version (May 2008)
Legal base for EU humanitarian aid (Irish Times, 16/05/08). The Lisbon Treaty creates for the first time a legal base for EU humanitarian aid, Concern has noted in its submission to the Forum on Europe.
Afri: The Lisbon Treaty, the European Military Project, and Europe’s Role in the World: Implications for Irish Voters
BOND, with 300 members (including Concern Worldwide), is the United Kingdom’s broadest network of voluntary organisations working in international development.
An article on its website by Simon Stocker describes the treaty as "all that was sought" by NGOs. He called the ratification "an opportunity to capitalise on the gains that it contains". He continued: "One of the aims of the new Treaty is to increase the EU’s political role in the world, something that is significantly constrained by the current Treaties. This is surely positive, particularly when one looks at the overall objectives for the Union’s relations with the rest of the world, which include peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights."
Stocker is the director of Eurostep, a smaller European coalition, which includes Concern and Oxfam (Netherlands). Contact: stocker@eurostep.org.
The big five NGOs in the UK are Oxfam, Save the Children, Cafod, Action Aid and Christian Aid. All are members of BOND. Along with Trocaire, they are also members of the Trade Justice Movement. The coalition has expressed concern about the Treaty’s references to trade liberalisation and calls for "a pro-development trade policy which is coherent with the EU’s wider development objectives."
What did politicians say?
"I believe that tackling climate change is one of the compelling reasons to vote yes in the forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. My decision - and that of the majority of my party members - to support the Lisbon Treaty was heavily influenced by its provisions aimed at concerted EU action to deal with climate change." Green party leader, Minister John Gormley (18/2/08). Green Party EU Reform Treaty Position Papers.
Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said that the Lisbon Treaty would 'fundamentally undermine' the EU's stated objective of tackling developing world poverty and global inequality and that it has no bearing on climate change (7/2/08). She was responding to Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore.
Gilmore said earlier that day that, in addition to a reference in the Treaty to the need to combat Climate Change, the new institutional provisions should permit more efficient decision-making and policy implementation with full involvement of the European Parliament (7/2/08). He said that in its relations with the wider world, the objectives are peace, security, sustainable development, solidarity and mutual respect among people, free and fair trade, the eradication of poverty, the promotion of human rights, the strict observance and the development of the rule of law and respect for the United Nations Charter. He added that throughout the text of the Treaty, these values are translated into objectives.
The UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee also examined the Treaty and concluded that the new institutional arrangements for EU foreign policy created by the Lisbon Treaty have the potential to encourage more coherent and effective foreign policymaking and representation but that the way in which the new arrangements will work in practice remains unclear (20/1/08).
What did the EU website say?
On Africa and countries needing development or humanitarian aid:
The Treaty of Lisbon introduces for the first time a specific legal basis for humanitarian aid. This provision stresses the specificity of the policy and the application of the principles of international humanitarian law, in particular impartiality and non-discrimination.
The Treaty of Lisbon clearly states that the reduction and the eradication of poverty is the primary objective of the Union’s development cooperation policy. This goal must be respected when the Union implements policies likely to affect developing countries. This implies also that development policy is a policy in its own right, and not an accessory of common foreign and security policy.
In case of urgent financial aid, the Council will act by qualified majority upon a proposal from the Commission. This should mean quicker financial aid in the future.
The Treaty of Lisbon will classify development cooperation and humanitarian aid as “shared parallel competences”: this means that the Union conducts an autonomous policy, which neither prevents the Member States from exercising their competences nor makes the Union’s policy merely “complementary” to those of the Member States.
On the environment and climate change:
The Treaty of Lisbon states that one of the Union’s objectives is to work for the sustainable development of Europe based, in particular, on a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. Although the idea of sustainable development was included in the existing treaties, the Treaty of Lisbon will reinforce and better define this objective. Sustainable development is also affirmed as one of the fundamental objectives of the Union in its relations with the wider world.
The environment is one of the spheres of competence shared between the Union and the Member States. When the Union intervenes in this area, it must contribute to the pursuit of clear objectives: preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment; protecting human health; promoting prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources; promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems.
On foreign policy
The website also puts forward answers to the following questions:
Will Europe’s voice in the world be stronger with the Treaty of Lisbon?
Will the Treaty create a European army?
Does the Treaty weaken Member States’ ability to have an independent foreign policy?
More documents
EU Reform Treaty- Analysis of Development Co-operation.
Links
lisbon-treaty.org Provides information about the implications of the Lisbon Treaty on the EU’s development cooperation policy.
Reform Treaty Information from BOND.
Documents on EU development policies from Dóchas
The National Forum On Europe animates and promotes public debate on the EU, its enlargement, its future and Ireland’s place in it. The Forum’s purpose is not to advocate or promote a particular course of action. It is to be a politically neutral. The website contains a Summary of the Treaty.
European Movement Ireland
Lisbon Treaty background information from the BBC.
The EU in Ireland - The European Commission Representation in Ireland
For the Lisbon Treaty:
Irish Alliance for Europe
Irish Government Lisbon Treaty website
Against the Lisbon Treaty:
Campaign Against the EU Constitution
EU Reform - Site contains several relevant news feeds.
Libertas
VoteNo.ie
More links
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