EU Commission president Barroso: 'Thank you, Ireland'

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has spoken by phone to the Taoiseach Brian Cowen to congratulate him on the 'Yes' result in the Lisbon Treaty referendum.

Afterwards, a clearly relieved Mr Barroso – sporting a carefully-chosen green tie - told a press conference in Brussels: “The Irish people have spoken. They have said a resounding Yes to Europe. Thank you, Ireland. It is a great day both for Ireland and for Europe.

“I am extremely happy. All member states have now democratically approved the Lisbon Treaty, either by popular or by parliamentary vote.

“I want to congratulate the Irish people on reaching their overwhelming decision after such long and careful deliberation. I see the Yes vote as a sign of confidence by the Irish people in the EU and as a sign of their desire to be wholehearted members at the heart of the EU.”

Mr Barroso said the Irish debate over the treaty had been intense, covering all aspects, and the 'Yes' result was a sign that the EU had listened to Irish concerns.

The legal guarantees given to the Irish people over their sovereignty had played a “significant” role in meeting the legitimate concerns of the Irish people, he said.

Mr Barroso said much more information about the treaty had been available during the latest campaign, which helped people make up their minds and vote in favour.

“The EU was ready to listen and to react, and I believe that the Union needs the Lisbon Treaty so that we can be more effective and more accountable in delivering concrete results for our citizens.

“Now that all member states have democratically approved the treaty, I hope that the necessary procedures for its entry into force can be completed as quickly as possible in Poland and the Czech Republic.

He said he hoped Ireland would now be able to devote more time to issues important not just for Ireland, but also for Europe’s “common future”.

Asked about campaigning “scare tactics”, Mr Barroso responded: “Any campaign of fear was generated by the No campaign, with tactics such as posters about a minimum salary being imposed on Ireland by Europe.”

Instead, he said, the EU had shown that “we are a listening community of diversity”.

Asked about possible further delays to the treaty, particularly in the Czech Republic, he said that the “constitutional procedures” in that country would be respected.

“I think in the the end president Klaus will sign the treaty. He was elected by the (Czech) parliament, and the parliament has voted on the treaty. So it would be a great contradiction for him not to respect the decision of the parliament.”

Open Europe, which campaigns for radical EU reform, said the result was only a victory for EU “elites”.

Open Europe director Lorraine Mullally said: “This is a sad day for democracy in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty transfers huge new powers to the EU and away from ordinary people and national parliaments.

“EU elites will be popping the champagne and slapping each other on the back for managing to bully Ireland in to reversing its first verdict on this undemocratic Treaty.

“But most ordinary people around Europe will not welcome this news, as they were never given a chance to have their say on the Treaty.

“We should all be deeply worried about the way in which EU leaders have gone about forcing this Treaty on us. Polls show that the majority of people across Europe want to be consulted on major transfers of power such as this – but politicians in Brussels aren’t interested in what the people want.”

She accused the Yes campaign of running a “deeply dishonest” campaign: “This was the only way they could hope to get Lisbon passed – being honest about the loss of powers from national parliaments and citizens to unaccountable EU institutions would have lost it for them.

“The good news is that this is not the final hurdle – the Treaty still needs to be ratified in the Czech Republic and Poland. Let’s hope the presidents of these two countries see sense and refuse to sign.”