Greens condemn Yes scare tactics

THE Greens yesterday accused the Yes to Nice campaign of scaremongering over the economic consequences of a rejection of the treaty.

Green Party finance spokesman Dan Boyle TD said other countries which had questioned the direction the EU was taking had continued to enjoy significant amounts of foreign investment.

“Norway, which voted not to enter the EU, Sweden and Britain, which opted out of participation in the euro, and Denmark, which voted against Maastricht, all continue to experience significant levels of economic growth,” he said.

The party’s enterprise spokesman, Eamon Ryan TD, said it was clear the Nice Treaty would not be a deciding factor in attracting jobs.

Instead, he said, investment would be decided on corporate tax regimes, wages rates and infrastructure rather than a referendum result. He said, however, the Government’s reliance on corporation tax was a dangerous policy which could unravel if other countries copied our rates.

“The Green Party’s policy of re-introducing slightly higher corporation tax rates matched by new breaks for research and development would encourage better industrial development and win us back a few friends in Europe,” Mr Ryan said.

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said the Yes side’s arguments over the economy had been exposed, particularly in the area of agriculture. “Farmers are well aware of the huge contradictions contained in Government assurances about the Nice Treaty and reform of the Common Agricultural Policy,” he said.

“If the Government claims CAP payments will continue as before, then where is the extra money going to be found to pay the entitlements of over two million farmers in Poland?”

He also questioned why financial provisions for agriculture in an enlarged EU had been postponed until the end of this year, after the Nice referendum.

Meanwhile, the Greens also sought to exploit reports that the European Commission was preparing a “plan B” in case of a defeat of the Nice Treaty.

It has been reported that Brussels officials will seek a Dáil declaration that Ireland is not opposed to enlargement in the event of a No vote. Yesterday, Mr Sargent said such a declaration should be issued before the referendum so applicant countries could be aware that Irish people were not opposed to the applicant countries joining the union.

“The Irish Government’s failure to correctly interpret the position of the Irish people over the Nice Treaty has the potential to undermine strong relationships that Ireland will hope to establish with the applicant countries,” he said.