TODAY THE Cabinet must decide what to do about the Lisbon Treaty after its rejection by the people in last June's referendum. The Government is committed to set out its response to the European Council later this week following careful research, intensive consultations and a detailed Oireachtas report on the possible options. It must give a clear lead on how voters' concerns about the treaty - justified or not - should be dealt with. Other member states of the European Union are anxious to help but also impatient to see the treaty ratified.
The Government should now decide to hold another referendum and indicate its timing. There is nothing undemocratic in doing so once proper account is taken of the reasons why it was rejected and an honest attempt made to address them in seeking a better deal. This was done with Nice in 2002, as with previous referendums on divorce and abortion. It is fully compatible with the deliberative aspect of our constitutional system.
Voters' attitudes can shift in response to legal clarifications, changing circumstances and better knowledge about the consequences of their decisions. On all these counts there have been substantial developments since June. Most important are the profound change in the world and Irish economies as the recession deepens and a transformed geopolitical environment, both of which require more effective EU action in world affairs. This is no time for Ireland to become separate from the European mainstream.
Research shows that worries about the purpose of the treaty and how it might affect Ireland's sovereignty, political influence, military neutrality, taxation policies, legal competences to decide on abortion policy and workers' rights were dominant concerns among No voters. A better understanding of these concerns has enabled the Government to explore how they can be met in negotiations with the other 26 EU member states which have an equal right to decide. The fact that none of these is willing to embark on a comprehensive renegotiation is a central political reality. But that is not necessary to allay these worries. They can be met by a political agreement to give each state a commissioner and by legal guarantees clarifying what the treaty does and does not do.
It is fully in Ireland's competence to ensure voters have a good understanding of the treaty by better communication policies and above all through a more engaged campaign on its contents and meaning. The Yes campaign last time was lamentably weak. Next time it needs a much greater input from civil society, as well as from the major political parties.
Ireland's policy of military neutrality is best protected by reinforcing existing guarantees that it can continue until we decide otherwise, rather than by seeking opt-outs from the EUs Common Security and Defence Policy. Opt-outs would badly damage the armed forces' participation in international peacekeeping and remove our capacity to influence future developments. National policies on company taxation, abortion and workers' rights are also best protected by legal guarantees added as protocols to the accession treaty with Croatia in 2011.