Campaign group urges no vote on EU constitution

THE EU constitution would lead to a less democratic union where “corporate profits would take priority over the needs of ordinary people”, a new alliance claimed yesterday.

Members of the “Campaign Against the EU Constitution”, which was launched in Dublin yesterday, said if ratified, it would lead to “the creeping privatisation” of public services, as well as further militarising the union.

The campaign is urging the Irish public to reject the constitution when asked to vote on it, probably later this year.

The constitution replaces all of the existing EU treaties and provides a new legal basis for the entire union. The treaty establishing the constitution was signed in Rome last October, but it can only enter force if all 25 member states ratify it. This must happen by November 1, 2006.

But yesterday, the members of the Campaign Against the EU Constitution disagreed.

The campaign features an ad-hoc alliance of minor political parties, NGOs, and individual campaigners, including the Workers’ Party, the Socialist Workers’ Party, and the Peace and Neutrality Alliance.

Andy Storey, a lecturer on development issues at UCD, said: “The constitution would further militarise the EU, strengthening an EU military bloc that could go to war anywhere around the world.”

But the executive director of the European Movement Ireland Brendan Kiely countered: “Ireland will not be forced into militarism. The EU is committed to working in accordance with the UN charter and international law.”