Lisbon treaty will put profit before people

ON April 3, the European Court of Justice made a ruling that asserts the right of business to use labour — human beings, from wherever they are cheapest — to gain competitive advantage where labour is dearer.

In its ruling on the Niedersachsen case, the court ruled that a requirement to pay more than the minimum wage in Germany would be a restriction on the right of a Polish company to provide (cross-border) services — as guaranteed by the Treaty of Rome. Thus, the minimum wage can become the benchmark, driving down wages across the board, in order to make a profit.

These rulings should be a wake-up call to anybody concerned about the Lisbon treaty. Lisbon reasserts competition as central to EU policy. It was EU competition rules which caused the deindustrialisation of eastern Europe and the new situation we face: at least 100 million people living in regions of poverty and high unemployment out of a population of 500 million. Workers are being forced to compete against each other in a race to the bottom, where conflict is inevitable. Lisbon would make this worse.

Lisbon puts price stability centre stage, not employment or sustainable development. It gives the EU more powers to stop governments going into debt — in situations where state borrowing can be essential to reduce unemployment or provide public services. And Lisbon would make it easier for the EU to make international agreements that would contract out more of our health, education and social services to multinational corporations.

The use of cheaper labour, so far mostly in construction, would be made easier by the trade agreements and outsourcing that Lisbon would facilitate.

Ireland is at the end of a boom. Along with the peoples of Europe, we face a difficult situation. Lisbon would put more decisions in the hands of an elite, making us compete against one another while they ensure their own protection. We need an alternative. Its time to say No.

Brendan Young

Dublin Rd

Celbridge

Kildare