Chambers disagrees with incoming president’s remarks

CHAMBERS Ireland moved to dissociate itself from comments of its president-elect yesterday after he revealed his intention to vote against the Lisbon treaty.

Dr Chris Coughlan, a senior executive with Hewlett-Packard in Galway, is deputy president and will assume the presidency of Chambers later this year.

In an interview, Dr Coughlan said he was a dedicated European but was concerned about aspects of the treaty and would therefore be voting no.

“I’m worried about the growing democratic deficit in the EU and people’s connection with it,” he said.

Dr Coughlan said his opposition was on a personal basis.

Chambers Ireland, which represents more than 13,000 businesses nationwide, immediately moved to emphasise that point.

In a statement, Chambers president David Pierce and chief executive John Dunne reaffirmed the organisation’s support for the treaty. They said Dr Coughlan’s views “in no way reflect or represent” the views of the organisation.

Meanwhile, the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland said it would be strongly supporting a yes vote.

Chief executive Joanne Richardson said: “The reforms proposed in the Lisbon treaty will provide a more effective Europe acting as a single trading area, enabling Irish business to exploit more effectively this market of over 460 million consumers.

“We should also remember that the US-EU trade relationship is valued at $4 trillion and Ireland must be at the centre of Europe if it is to benefit from its share of this strong trading relationship also.”

Ms Richardson was speaking in Brussels following a presentation by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan to a meeting of American multinationals.

“There is a strong economic justification for supporting the EU Reform Treaty,” Mr Lenihan said. “This treaty is about making the operations of the EU more effective into the future. This will help the EU to bring forth new laws to promote economic growth across the 27 EU states. It is a vote for jobs, a vote for growth and a vote for investment.”

But the People Before Profit Alliance, which is campaigning against the treaty, said yesterday the treaty would simply create even more favourable conditions for “big business” to operate in an unrestricted European-wide market.

“Undistorted competition is the key EU organising principle and is the framework for all other policies,” said alliance spokesman Eddie Conlon. “Since the 1980s, the EU has moved to restructure essential public services such as water and sanitation, public transport, energy, post and telecoms as private business. Now, with the Lisbon treaty, our health, education and social care systems are in their sights. Lisbon would make privatisation of our public services easier.”

The alliance launched its No campaign yesterday, saying the treaty would lead to further militarisation of the EU and did nothing “to address the democratic deficit” at “the heart of the EU project”.