The Lisbon Treaty is an EU reform treaty for a 21st century Europe and deals with issues central to the future well-being of Ireland, writes Dermot Ahern.
LAST THURSDAY, the Government published the Bill for the 28th Amendment of the Constitution. This marks the commencement of the political debate on this EU reform treaty which will pave the way for a referendum in late May or early June.
The issues at stake in the coming referendum are not abstract ones remote from everyday life. At heart, they concern the future of our country. What the people are being asked to decide is whether we want to remain where we have been for the past 35 years as an active and positive participant in the European Union. This is something that has delivered an unprecedented period of national advancement. The alternative is for us to block the progress of the EU and bring about a further period of crisis and uncertainty within the Union. This would bring no national benefit to us. It would damage our standing within the Union and inhibit our capacity to exert influence on the future evolution of policies of particular interest to us. I firmly believe that the EU needs this treaty and that it represents a very good deal for Ireland.
In essence, this treaty is about making the European Union work more effectively for the benefit of the people of Europe. When Ireland joined the then EEC in 1973, there were nine members. Today we have 27 EU member states. Common sense dictates that a larger organisation needs to revise its rules so that decisions can be made more smoothly in order to advance the common good.
The treaty gives a greater role to national parliaments and the European Parliament in the Union's activities. It provides for the appointment of a full-time president of the European Council whose job will be to chair EU summit meetings. There will also be a High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy who will seek to give the Union a more coherent voice in world affairs. The Charter of Fundamental Rights will ensure respect across the Union for an important set of rights.
What does all of this have to do with Ireland's future? The key point is that Ireland needs an effective Union if we are to protect our hard won prosperity. If you want to gauge the impact of the treaty on Ireland, the best yardstick is to look at what past treaties have done for us. Let us cast our minds back to the Ireland that existed before we became EU members. In 1972 we were clearly the poorest member of the EEC. We are now the second richest. At that time, our GDP was 60 per cent of the EU average. Today it stands at 144 per cent. In the early 1970s, employment stood at a little over one million. Today, 2.1 million people are at work here. These gains were not conjured up out of thin air. They were built within a European economic environment shaped in large part by the EU treaties.
Since 1973, policies elaborated under the EU treaties have helped to transform our country. Under policies like the Common Agricultural Policy and the Structural Funds, some €58 billion in funding has flowed into Ireland from the EU budget. This support was vital in improving our infrastructure, which greatly improved the competitive position of our economy.
Many international companies chose to create jobs here because of our access to the European single market with its population of almost 500 million. There are currently 980 foreign companies in Ireland providing 136,000 jobs.
It is no coincidence that Ireland's period of dramatically-enhanced prosperity has coincided with the existence of the EU single market. Had we listened to the doubters in the mid-1980s, we might have declined to ratify the Single European Act and could well have missed out on the huge gains of the past 15 years.
If you examine the arguments against the treaty, it can be seen that these are the same ones that have been put forward during every single EU referendum since 1972. They were ill-founded then and they are equally so now.
In 1972, there were those who vehemently argued that membership would erode Irish neutrality. This has not happened and it will not happen under the treaty. Our particular position is well understood within the Union and is shared by countries like Austria, Finland and Sweden who are our partners in the Union but, like Ireland, do not belong to any military alliance.
It has long been predicted by opponents of successive EU treaties that Irish sovereignty would be eroded by EU involvement. Nothing could be further from the truth. Working with others within the EU improves our national position immeasurably, thus effectively enhancing our sovereignty.
There are those who urge the electorate to oppose the treaty on the grounds that it is too complex and difficult to understand. It is true that the treaty is a lengthy legal document. Past EU treaties have shared this characteristic. Complexity is unavoidable when a treaty needs to set out the rules governing relations between 27 sovereign States.
Many aspects of the treaty, however, are really quite accessible. Anyone who reads the Charter of Fundamental Rights will have no difficulty in understanding the rights that are being protected. Let me quote one of the treaty's opening articles: "The Union's aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples".
That could hardly be clearer.
Those who say that this treaty is too complex do a disservice to the electorate and underestimate their capacity to understand the essential elements of a complex situation. I have full trust in the good judgment of our electorate.
Claims have been made that there is no information available about the treaty. This is not the case. There is a dedicated website www.reformtreaty.ie which contains the full text of the treaty and all relevant documents connected with it. A pamphlet was published in December and a plain guide was produced last month summarising the treaty's key features. These have been widely distributed and it is planned to distribute the guide nationally.
A consolidated version of the treaties has also been published and is available in every library in the country. A White Paper will be produced in early April in advance of the Oireachtas debate on the treaty.
The treaty is different in structure from its predecessor, in that it merely amends existing treaties. Much of the substance of the Reform Treaty was negotiated under Ireland's EU presidency in 2004. On issues of particular national sensitivity, we were able to shape the outcome in ways that fully respect our interests. For example, we successfully insisted on retaining unanimous voting for all decisions relating to taxation and defence.
The treaty safeguards the delicate balance between larger and smaller EU members, which was a particular Irish priority in the negotiations. For example, membership of the EU Commission will be on a strictly equal basis. This means that Ireland and Germany will have an equal right to nominate a member of the commission.
There is a final, powerful reason why it is in our interests that this treaty be ratified. The major challenges we face today are clearly global. When it comes to matters like climate change, the availability of energy supplies, and the condition of the international economy, how can we have an effective influence in today's world by acting alone?
EU membership confers a huge advantage on countries like ours. It provides us with a range of vital opportunities which we have taken full advantage this past 35 years. By ratifying the treaty, we will put ourselves in a position to continue drawing maximum benefit from EU membership in the years ahead.
Dermot Ahern is Minister for Foreign Affairs