LAUNCH - Socialist Party:THE LISBON Treaty poses a threat to public services, according to former Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins. He told a press conference in Dublin yesterday that the document would open the way to further privatisation.
Although the Government was "fast-tracking the privatisation of significant aspects of our health services", it was still essential to preserve the veto in this regard at EU level, he said.
Government policy, or the Government itself, could be changed but, "if a veto is not there, the Government could be outvoted on the Council of Ministers or on the European Council itself".
Mr Higgins said this reflected "the neo-liberal agenda that has been pushed relentlessly within the EU for a long time now". Many trade union leaders and the Labour Party were "in denial as to the real threat to public services".
He said that before Brian Cowen's elevation to the post of taoiseach, the Government's strategy had been "not to talk about the treaty". His message to Mr Cowen was: "Have an honest debate with us on these crucial issues." He added that some of the statements attributed to Mr Cowen about the need for a caring, compassionate society were "absolutely contradicted by the ethos of the Lisbon Treaty".
While rejecting the notion that "Irish youth will be drafted off the streets" to serve in some future European army, Mr Higgins claimed there had been progressive militarisation of the EU.
This was in accordance with the wishes of what he called "the European elite" and Mr Higgins added: "They do want to have military power and a disposable army." He also claimed the armaments industry was "the forgotten, hidden child of the EU".
Complaining about the initial difficulty in obtaining the text of the treaty, Mr Higgins said: "We had to download everything from the internet." However, unlike businessman Ulick McEvaddy, another treaty opponent, he would not say that the text was tortuous.
He said he had nothing in common with Mr McEvaddy and Declan Ganley, even though they also urged a No vote. According to Mr Higgins, they wanted "a capitalism that is even redder in tooth and claw" than what obtained at present in the EU.
Socialist Party councillor Clare Daly said it was a myth that "the Lisbon Treaty somehow copper-fastens rights for workers and enshrines them". On the contrary, she said, "the treaty makes rights of workers subservient to the free market".
