Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has said his party will lead the Yes campaign in a second Lisbon referendum to prevent anti-Government sentiment from shooting the treaty down.
He has also sharply criticised the performance of EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy, declaring that his “heart was never in Europe” and he’d have preferred to be back home.
“There may be a political problem in separating the Lisbon referendum from the government’s mismanagement of the economy… The people want an election,” said Mr Kenny today after meeting European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.
Mr Kenny, who as Fine Gael leader is a vice president of the European People’s Party- the same political family as Mr Barroso, said he would meet Taoiseach Brian Cowen next Tuesday to discuss the guarantees being sought on the Lisbon treaty.
But this would also give him an opportunity to lay out Fine Gael’s plans for the next referendum campaign.
“The timing of the last referendum left a lot to be desired when you had one Taoiseach leaving and another one arriving. The Government took their eye off the ball… the campaign was not coordinated,” said Mr Kenny, who added that nothing could be taken for granted in a second referendum due to a “real cynicism about politics” out there.
“We need a proper campaign to inform the people. We need to set up a committee to properly scrutinise how the Government transposes EU directives. Red tape in Europe is interfering with people,” said Mr Kenny, who cited the example of a shopkeeper who was told to destroy 20 dozen eggs because two best before date marks had become blurred.
He said the problem often lies with how the government transposed EU legislation rather than with the directives himself. For example Ireland has introduced criminal penalties for fishermen while other member states have opted for a system of administrative penalties. Setting up a scrutiny committee to see how the implementing legislation could be amended would show to the people that politicians were listening, said Mr Kenny.
He said the Government should set a date for the referendum early on and move the referendum legislation in July rather than attempt to recall the Dáil in September. He said it was important to separate the referendum on Lisbon from the difficult budget decision required in November. To separate Ireland’s future in Europe from the Government’s mismanagement of the economy may be a difficult thing to do, added Mr Kenny.
He also offered his full support to Mr Barroso’s candidature for a second term as commission president, declaring that he should be nominated by EU leaders next week. “He has become the face of Europe in many ways,” said Mr Kenny, who was not as generous when assessing the performance of internal markets commissioner, Mr McCreevy.
“I don’t think Charlie McCreevy was ever interested in the job out here and his heart was never in Europe. He’d have preferred to be back at home,” he said.
Mr Kenny said former taoiseach John Bruton would make an excellent candidate for the commission. He said the decision of the next Irish commissioner should not be about party politics but about the country and its future relationship with Europe.