European Court ruling will drive down wages

IN his letter supporting the Lisbon Treaty (May 20), Brian Crowley MEP says it “has nothing to do with decisions laid down by the European Court”.

He is a bit coy in not mentioning two recent court decisions which in effect will allow employers to set aside wage agreements negotiated with unions and only pay the minimum wage when sending workers to another EU county.

This will have the effect of driving down wage level across Europe, which I suspect is exactly what it is intended to do. For Mr Crowley to say the treaty has nothing to do with decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is nonsense.

The ECJ has the ultimate say on all matters of EU law, including disputes arising from an employer’s right established by the court only to pay the minimum wage.

Mr Crowley also says “the EU does not run our health and education services”. Well, under the treaty it will in effect because, under the competition laws, all ‘services’— including health and education — will have to be open to competition by private companies.

The Government has been preparing for this by supporting colocation and other attempts to allow access to the public health service by private healthcare companies.

The British government has been doing the same thing. I suspect the yes camp hopes voters haven’t the time or expertise to examine and decipher the treaty, but will rely on what the Government, employers and MEPs tell them.

One good piece of advice I saw recently (Letters, April 28) was “if you don’t know, vote no”.

Brian Abbott

Glencairn

Bishopstown Road

Cork