The Green Party has dismissed the Government's guarantee of military neutrality in the Nice referendum as "worthless" and "misleading".
Speaking at a gathering on the party's Nice neutrality campaign yesterday, solicitor Mr Joe Noonan, a specialist in constitutional law, noted that Fianna Fáil's "Guide to the Nice Treaty" stated that by voting Yes, "we will guarantee that our traditional position cannot be watered down in any way without the prior permission of the Irish people in a referendum".
"This wording is completely wrong," Mr Noonan said. "It gives them permission to vote for a common defence prior to going to referendum."
Mr Noonan argued that as Ireland was a member of the European Council - which makes all decisions unanimously - the Government would have the opportunity to vote in favour of a common EU defence force before ever having to hold a referendum on the issue in Ireland.
He added that the wording of the Fianna Fáil guide "betrays the opportunity that the Government is presenting itself" and it "envisages them having the authority to vote for a common defence in the European Council".
"If they were to be totally clear on Irish neutrality they would say, 'We will guarantee that we will not vote for a common defence at the European Council'. Instead, they are saying we will have a referendum - but failing to say that they would have voted in favour of it at European Council level before it could get to that stage at all," he said. Ireland's traditional stance on neutrality will be watered down by the amendment which "recognises and accepts that the European Council may decide, by virtue of Article 1.2 of Nice, to establish a common defence".
The European Council is composed of all of the EU heads of State and Government.
The party's chairman, Mr John Gormley TD, outlined fears about the militarisation of Europe. He said there was an "agenda within the EU to create a military force to rival that of the United States". The creation of such a force would lead to increased spending on defence in Ireland, he claimed. Ireland spends 0.75 per cent of GDP on defence, but an EU common defence force could incur increased defence costs.
Green MEP for Leinster, Ms Nuala Ahern, raised the issue of nuclear weapons. Using Britain and France as examples, Ms Ahern said it was "quite clear that any EU common defence would have a nuclear weapons component, given the French and British nuclear deterrents".
She said it would be "completely unacceptable for this country to even contemplate entering such a nuclear defence arrangement".
The EU Rapid Reaction Force came under fire from ex-army officer Mr Edward Horgan who called it "a European army in the making".
"It will be competing with both NATO and the USA, neither of which are likely to be under the control or jurisdiction of international law". What was urgently needed was a United Nations Rapid Reaction Force instead of an EU Rapid Reaction Force, he said. Mr Horgan added that Ireland's neutral status was being severely compromised by allowing US Airforce planes to land at Shannon, a move which had "effectively led to the loss of Irish neutrality".