There is “no credible scenario” in which Ireland could have been more successful in the negotiations on the Lisbon Reform Treaty, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said today.
Mr Cowen said the treaty is a good deal for smaller countries because we helped to shape it.
“Of all of the European treaties, this was probably the most influenced by smaller countries and Ireland can be very proud of its central role in leading negotiations. This is reflected in the text of the Treaty, which directly protects and promotes the interests of the member states, irrespective of their size,” Mr Cowen said.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen
He said there were “many examples” in the treaty which show smaller countries being given “substantial influence”.
“For example, no proposal will be able to be passed into law without the support of at least nine of the smaller countries.
“In a wide range of areas, even countries much smaller than Ireland will continue to be able to veto proposals. In relation to the Commission, Germany, with over 80 million people, has agreed to have exactly the same rights as Malta which has only 400,000 people.
“Equally, every national parliament is given the same rights in terms of new measures to increase the accountability of the Union.”
Mr Cowen said that over the past 35 years, the EU had “earned the right to be seen as “one of the most positive forces in the history of Europe's smaller states”.
“It has given us an opportunity to thrive and be secure. The Lisbon Reform Treaty carries on this tradition in an attempt to make sure that a Union which has worked so well for us in the past will continue to do so in the years ahead.”
Separately, the Labour Party said remarks by the Taoiseach at the weekend in relation to the commitment of opposition parties to the Lisbon Treaty referendum were “misinformed and misdirected”.
In a comment believed to be mainly aimed at Fine Gael, Mr Cowen said he wanted to see the same level of support for the treaty in other parties who have "the same vocation to the European idea as we have".
He was speaking after newly-released poll results yesterday showed Fine Gael voters evenly divided between the Yes and No side, while an absolute majority of Fianna Fáil voters supported the treaty.
Labour Party spokesman on European affairs Joe Costello said it was in the interests of all on the Yes side to “concentrate on promoting public awareness of the benefits of the Lisbon Reform Treaty and taking on the false arguments put forward by the No side, rather than sniping at other parties working hard to win ratification”.
He said Mr Cowen’s comments “cannot be allowed to go unchallenged”.
“Although we have very limited financial resources, when compared to Mr Cowen’s party, we will be spending more than ?200,000 on the Labour Party campaign,” Mr Costello said.
“Unfortunately we have not been helped by the rather tardy approach of the Fianna Fail government to the Lisbon Treaty. They missed virtually every deadline. They were late with the White Paper; they delayed putting the legislation through the Dail; and the information campaign was very much a last minute affair.
“Unlike Mr Cowen's coalition partners in the Green Party, which has no formal position onthis vital issue, the Labour Party is fully committed to ensuring a successful outcome to the referendum and we will continue to campaign for it right up to June 12th.”