Socialist Party fears treaty paves way for privatisation of public services

THE door will be opened for the wholesale privatisation of public services if the Nice Treaty is passed, the Socialist Party said yesterday.

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said the proposed Article 133 in the Nice Treaty has dramatic implications for the future of economic policy in the European Union.

Launching his party’s No to Nice campaign, he said multinational corporations will be allowed to muscle in and take over water, electricity, gas and postal services across the EU if the Treaty is passed.

“The international experience of privatisation has demonstrated that it is the veiled robbery of public services built over generations by the taxpayer and the workforce.

“State assets handed over for a song, with the inevitable consequence of significant job losses, erosion of working conditions and a severe deterioration in the level of service provided,” Deputy Higgins said.

The Government was accused of betraying the UN, by the peace and human rights group, Action from Ireland.

At the launch of Afri’s campaign for a No vote, Professor John Maguire said Ireland would be a member of the NATO influenced European Rapid Reaction Force under the Nice Treaty.

Voting for Nice would further the corruption of the country’s foreign and defence policy by actively going along with EU militarisation, Prof Maguire said. Afri have also produced a CD single for the campaign: Another Trick in the Dáil, featuring Mary Coughlan and Rónán O’Snodaigh’s cover adaptation of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall. But speaking at the launch of Women For A Yes Vote (WFYV), Independent Sligo Leitrim TD Marian Harkin said the country has a triple guarantee on military action and Nice would provide further reassurances.

Irish soldiers cannot participate in military action unless sanctioned by the UN, the Dáil and the government, Deputy Harkin said.

According to WFYV chairperson Olive Braiden, the improvements in the lives of women as a result of EU membership should be a central issue in the campaign.