Green Party rejects Nice Treaty No vote claim
Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna rejected claims by the Government that the treaty was specifically concerned with bringing the accession countries into the EU.
“There are other ways of enlarging Europe particularly through the Amsterdam Treaty. The changes outlined will come into being regardless of whether enlargement takes place. Most of the Nice Treaty concerns itself with institutional changes that do not directly affect enlargement,” she said.
The Treaty of Nice is an 80 page document but only eight of those relate to enlargement, Ms McKenna said.
“Those who say that the Nice Treaty is about enlargement need to explain to voters what the other 72 pages are actually about,” she said.
Enlargement is principally dealt with in Declaration 20, which is attached to the Treaty, Ms McKenna said.
“Declarations are not legally binding and can be adopted without ratifying the Nice Treaty,” she said.
Rejecting the Government’s theory that Ireland’s credibility would be damaged by a No vote, Ms McKenna claimed there were many people in Brussels hoping the Irish electorate will reject Nice as it was felt that it was a bad treaty.
Launching the Green Party’s Nice Treaty manifesto, GP leader Trevor Sargent said his party was in favour of enlargement. The party’s principal concern was for the country’s neutrality and Mr Sargent said this issue had not been dealt with adequately in the Seville Declaration.
The declaration was a confidence trick which will still allow Ireland participate in combat missions with the EU’s Rapid Reaction Force, he said.
The Green Party is spending up to 50,000 of its funds on their campaign, while Ms McKenna is spending another 50,000 from her MEP’s information fund.
The Nice Treaty referendum re-run has now become a matter of trust, Mr Sargent said. The indictment of Ray Burke in the Flood Tribunal report along with the recent revelations of cutbacks, denials and leaks was undermining the electorate’s ability to take this Government seriously.
“While it should not be the case, the question of who you trust is looming large in people’s minds,” he said.
