McKenna rubbishes concept of 'legal guarantees' on Lisbon Treaty

People’s Movement chairperson Patricia McKenna has accused the Government of engaging in a cynical exercise of “political manipulation”.

Speaking on behalf of the People’s Movement, which successfully campaigned against ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in last year’s referendum, McKenna said: “These so-called ‘legal guarantees’ on the Lisbon Treaty are nothing more than an exercise in creative manipulation designed to mislead the public.

“This decision-making procedure which the Government are currently participating in does not exist as a legal instrument of the summits.

“It was invented by the EU’s political elite as very creative way of giving people an illusion of a legal certainty, which does not exist. The so-called ‘decision’ changes absolutely nothing in the treaties. If it were to change even a single word, then it would have to go through new ratifications in all member states in order to be validated.”

“A ‘decision’ in the summit is not a legally binding document that requires ratification by member states. A common ‘declaration’ which may express the intentions of today’s politicians accompanies it, but it does not stop future politicians from meddling with these ‘assurances’.”

“Another example of the ‘creativity’ of this whole process is the fact that Ireland will have its own Irish declaration which will not be signed by any other member state.

“Such unilateral declarations cannot be accepted as legitimate political promises. If Ireland had been able to get other member states to agree to what is in our own Irish declaration then it would have been part of the joint declaration or the decision.”