JOHN HOWLETT,
Sir, - As the Nice Treaty debate rattles on, with potential voters looking in other directions, it is surprising that the Green Party is looking for a vote against Europe.
For many years the EU has been its strongest supporter in promoting the protection of the environment against the reluctance and apathy of successive Irish governments. Brussels has had to give guidance, encouragement, and a measure of compulsion even on such simple and fundamental matters as the protection of drinking water supplies. Perhaps the Green Party should focus on issues like these which are clearly within its competence and leave the wider issues for more expert analysis.
It is also apparent, despite understandable concerns over the level of farm incomes, that reform of the CAP will give indirect environmental and other beliefs. It should help the campaign for clean food and decrease the degradation of land (very noticeable in the West), through overstocking. It may also relax the unfair trade burden on farmers in the Third World whose development aid has now been cut by us.
Finally the Green Party should be concerned at the poor image of the Irish environment which is beginning to dawn on European tourists who come here and which was not helped by a recent export scandal. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN HOWLETT, Galway.
Sir, - The anti-Europeans are advocating a rejection of the Nice Treaty because it will give more power to the larger states. As in many other areas, the anti-Europeans have got their facts wrong.
From 1958 to 1973 the EU had only six member-states, three of which were large. Since then each new country that has joined has diminished the power of the larger states.
Currently in the Council of Ministers the five largest states have 48 of the 87 votes, representing 55 per cent of the vote. However, in an enlarged union of 27 states they will have 143 votes out of 345, representing 41 per cent of the vote.
Currently in the European Commission the five largest states have two Commissioners while everyone else has only one. But post-Nice they will lose their second Commissioner, putting them on a par with everyone else.
In the European Parliament the five largest states currently have 424 MEPs out of 626, or 67 per cent of the seats. In an enlarged union of 27 states they will only have 365 MEPs out of 732, or 50 per cent of the seats.
In view of these very simple numbers could the anti-Europeans possibly explain how more power is going to the larger states when their percentage control is going down as each new member-state joins? - Yours, etc.,
JASON FITZHARRIS, Carlow.