Sarkozy says he’ll visit Ireland to help pass Lisbon Treaty

 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is offering to visit Ireland to help persuade voters to pass the Lisbon Treaty referendum at the second time of asking.

By contrast, embattled British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is reluctant to push the treaty through the House of Commons a second time if the Irish Government wins legal guarantees designed to allay the concerns of Irish voters.

However, the Irish Government is still confident it will secure the legally binding guarantees at next week’s crucial EU Summit.

Foreign Minister Micheal Martin insisted the Government was “close to agreeing legal guarantees” on concerns raised by voters when they rejected the European Union’s new governing treaty in a referendum last year.

“With the exception of taxation, our guarantees will be Ireland-specific,” he said. “We have to be careful that in getting what we want we do not upset procedures for others.”

The guarantees promised to Ireland at the EU Summit in December are on taxation, defence, the provisions of the Constitution on right to life, education and family and the solemn declaration on workers’ rights.

The wording of the guarantees has been circulated to all the EU member states ahead of the summit, where the text must be signed off on.

The date for the Lisbon Treaty referendum will be decided by the Government after consultation with the opposition parties.

Mr Martin said member states were sensitive about the Irish guarantees because they were concerned about the reaction within their own countries.

But political sources say the British are “absolutely worried” about the treaty having to pass through the House of Commons again because of the legal guarantees.

“They want to be clear Lisbon doesn’t have to be put through the Commons. They just don’t want to be going back,” a source said.

If the summit approves the guarantees, it is expected the Government will then move to hold the referendum in the autumn, most likely in mid-October.

Read full article

Related posts:

1. UKIP threatens action over Irish concessions on Lisbon treaty The UK Independence Party is considering mounting a challenge to...
2. Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead confrims Irish Lisbon guarantees are meaningless In a debate in the Lords yesterday, Europe Minister...
3. *New eurosceptic group to campaign against EU treaty in Irish referendum EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Europe of Freedom and...
4. Richard Green writes in The Irish Times: “We can’t afford Lisbon” www.coircampaign.org Last week you may have received a missive...
5. LISBON TREATY – Know The Facts ! Sarkozy hails ‘courage’ of staging second vote on Lisbon Irish...
6. Guarantees on Lisbon dismissed by McDonald www.irishtimes.com SINN FÉIN vice-president Mary Lou McDonald has dismissed...
7. Fury over Lisbon card cost Martin to spend €220,000 posting treaty update to homes FOREIGN...
8. Households to get Lisbon postcard A postcard briefly explaining the legal guarantees secured by the...
9. Lisbon Will Force Abortion into Ireland through EU Charter of Human Rights: Irish Pro-Life Lobby Refuse.Resist One of the Republic of Ireland’s leading pro-life...
10. European Trade Union Confederation Speak Out Against The EU’s Lisbon Treaty And False Irish ‘Guarantees’ Wise Up Journal EU group opposes proposals for Irish workers’...