Let’s not feed corporate greed

HAVING already voted against the Nice Treaty, we are now being forced to vote on it again. The same government that is breaking election promises and making cutbacks left, right and centre is telling us that the sky will fall in if we vote “no.” We shouldn’t be fooled.

The treaty is not necessary to allow countries in eastern Europe to join the EU. Eastern Europe is being forced to privatise its economies and open them up to unrestricted multinational investment. The Nice Treaty would concentrate power in even fewer hands in an already undemocratic EU. Nice would give corporate Europe an even freer hand to spread its tentacles globally.

While European capitalism rides roughshod over the rights and living standards of people in the poorest countries, it also closes its doors on those who come to Europe seeking refuge from economic and political injustice.

The EU aims to form a power bloc of its own, and is equipping itself with the military capability to back that up.

Our government has already joined the Rapid Reaction Force and NATO's Partnership for Peace, re-organised the army to fit in with NATO requirements, and made Shannon airport available for US bombing missions.

We should instead co-operate with workers in neighbouring countries, building an alternative Europe that would embrace the whole continent, cherish our environment, oppose war, and repair the damage done by European imperialism to the Third World.

John O'Neill,

Independent Socialist Forum Against Nice,

19 Fairways Grove,

Finglas,

Dublin 11.