Nice treaty will strip us of ability to have some say in our future
The treaty states categorically that once the member states reach 27, the number of full time commissioners will be reduced by a number and in a manner yet to be determined. Ireland, like all the other smaller states, will have to wait their turn to have influence over EU policy making.
Hidden behind that are the rules on qualified majority voting. The treaty also states that in future, policy can and will be determined by either a majority of states or a majority based upon population size (62% being the stated majority required). This effectively means that the big five can force measures through.
The New European parliament will see a reduction of 91 MEPs, spread across all member states with the exceptions of Germany and Luxembourg. Every part of this treaty hands more power to larger states and sidelines smaller states such as Ireland.
We have already lost our full-time appointee to the European Central Bank (so we have even less control over our financial future) and this treaty will mean loss of political influence as well.
The whole thrust of this treaty is to concentrate power in the hands of the big five and extend qualified majority voting to force through measures which may well be to the detriment of Ireland. It’s a treaty neither us nor the other smaller existing member states, nor the applicant states can afford to endorse. It copper-fastens an undemocratic form of political control.
It is stated that the treaty is required for enlargement. But existing treaties can handle the next five applicants. If we are going to have a new treaty then it should enhance democracy, not bury it under a bureaucracy which issues directives on a one-size-fits-all basis. For example, it requires Ireland to introduce a water conservation policy. Have they never visited Ireland in the summer?
One must also question the wisdom of the Government’s decision not to apply the seven year rule used by the big five to prevent a gold rush by people from the poorer eastern states, who will want jam today not tomorrow, seeing Ireland as a nation they can move to easily and opening the possibility of us being overwhelmed by population influx.
That’s not being xenophobic, it's a proper conclusion to draw. If the most popular migration destinations (predominantly Germany and England) are closed and they want a better life, we are their next best choice.
Richard Ashton,
Sumach,
Gas Yard Lane,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
