EU denies it will seek Dáil approval if Nice Treaty fails
No basis existed for the reports suggesting the EU would call for a Dáil declaration clearing enlargement if Ireland voted No again on October 19, a Commission spokesman said.
Junior Health Minister Brian Lenihan said an interpretation by the Dáil of a second Nice rejection could not and will not happen.
“There is absolutely no basis in Irish law for the Dáil passing a resolution to tell other countries what the Irish people were saying when voting on a referendum. There are no discussions on such a resolution and there will be no such resolution,” he said.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen laid the situation out clearly when he said he did not know how or when enlargement could go ahead if Ireland says No, Minister Lenihan said. “The entire reason there is a Nice Treaty in the first place is to allow enlargement. Every member country and every candidate country in Europe believes we need a Yes for Enlargement,” he said.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said any declaration of this nature would be unworkable and undemocratic.
“It is the people who must decide and not the politicians. Nice is about democracy, about enlarging the EU to give the fragile democracies of Eastern Europe the same economic opportunities for which we ourselves were so grateful,” Mr Kenny said.
Following the Taoiseach’s refusal to answer direct questions in the Dáil, Mr Kenny said it was a bad week for democracy.
“Public trust is the basis of any liberal democracy. We shouldn’t even consider something that would erode that trust still further,” he said.
Ratification of the Nice Treaty is the only way to get the workable and equitable enlargement of the union, Mr Kenny said.
Social Welfare Minister Mary Coughlan said the only obstacle to enlargement now was the decision of the Irish people in the referendum.
“While the No side continue to try to claim that enlargement will be unaffected by the defeat of the referendum, we have now reached a stage where
every country in the EU and every candidate country says that a Yes to Nice is required for enlargement to happen.”
Enlargement is not only good for the candidate countries, it is also good for Ireland as it opens up a market of 100 million consumers for Irish companies, Minister Coughlan said.
“I hope that the Irish people will not stand in the way of the creation of a bigger area of peace, stability and prosperity in Europe,” she said.
