Roche tells France to stop interfering with Lisbon referendum

THE French government was told to keep out of Irish politics and to stop interfering with the Lisbon referendum by Europe Minister Dick Roche and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore.

“They threw their own referendum, but we do not want any further inappropriate interference in our referendum,” declared Mr Roche.

This follows a statement from the French Economics Minister, Christine Lagarde, that France would push for a common system of assessing company tax (common consolidated corporate tax base or CCCTB) across the EU during their EU presidency which begins in July.