Republican News · Thursday 10 October 2002

NO to Nice - Towards a Europe of Equals

BY GERRY ADAMS MP

On 19 October, Irish people in the 26 Counties will go to the polls for a second time to vote on the Nice Treaty. This is a vital vote as it is an opportunity to have a real say in the future development of the European Union. In calling for a NO vote, Sinn Féin is seeking a more inclusive and democratic EU, one where all states - current members AND accession states - are treated equally. That is, we are seeking a Europe of Equals reflecting our vision of an Ireland of Equals.

More and more Irish people now believe that successive governments have ceded too much control to unaccountable EU institutions. They believe that the gradual erosion of our sovereignty and our neutrality have gone too far.

They want this to change. It is well recognised that the EU already has a huge democratic deficit, but Nice did absolutely nothing to redress this.

On the contrary, Nice would move decision making even further away from the individual citizen, from the local communities we live in, and from the governments we democratically elect. These are issues that not only affect Ireland and current EU members, they also impact on the applicant states.

Democracy is the key to Nice 2

For Sinn Féin, the key issue in this referendum campaign is Democracy. It is about the decision of the government to deliberately defy the decision of the electorate and rerun the same referendum, something described by former Attorney General John Rogers as 'constitutionally suspect' and 'undemocratic'. The behaviour of the Irish government in this situation corroborates our fundamental objection to the Treaty of Nice itself, that it brings to an end the EU as a partnership of equal sovereign states.

The very holding of this referendum, a rerun of the last one, is proof of how smaller states will be bullied and cajoled and our democratic vote ignored by the bigger states - if we let them.

The threat to Irish neutrality is highlighted by Afri's referendum poster

Nice creates a two-tier EU

The constitutional amendment the government is asking us to adopt refers specifically to those articles of the Treaty that provide for what is called 'enhanced cooperation'. This will allow up to eight member states to use the EU institutions to advance their common interests, leaving the rest outside the loop. Taken together with the extension of Qualified Majority voting to 30 new areas and the loss of the permanent Irish presence on the EU Commission, this represents a major blow to both Irish sovereignty and equitable Irish participation in the EU. The YES campaign is running a scare campaign which ignores the complexity of the Treaty. Obviously, the YES side does not want to deal with the detail of the Treaty because the devil is in the detail.

This may well be the last referendum in which the people of the 26 Counties can really influence the shape of the EU of which we are members. Because if Nice is passed then so-called 'enhanced co-operation' will allow eight or more states to proceed ahead of the rest regardless of the will of the people in any one state. Under Nice the two-tier EU will be a reality.

Neutrality

Neutrality is the other central issue in this referendum. The Nice Treaty continues the militarisation of the EU, which Sinn Féin opposes. Nice establishes a new Political and Security Committee to deal with EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. The EU Rapid Reaction Force will come under the auspices of this new Committee.

The new Committee will thus oversee a Rapid Reaction Force that is authorised to operate outside the borders of the EU. This gives the force an offensive capacity, something the Irish government should never have agreed to.

The Seville Declarations are political statements not protocols, and so do not alter one word of the Treaty. The proposed new wording in the constitutional amendment is too narrowly focused and is not a real neutrality amendment. It only addresses 'common defence' as set out in Nice.

It will not prevent, for example, the government allowing US warplanes to use Shannon airport as a base, without consultation in the Dáil, as they continue to do, nor involvement in the Rapid Reaction Force. Sinn Féin opposes these changes under Nice because they undermine Irish neutrality, and because we are opposed to the development of the EU as a militarised superpower. Instead, we want to see neutrality enshrined in the Irish Constitution, a withdrawal from the EU Rapid Reaction Force and the promotion of an Independent foreign policy.

Privatisation

Nice also contains a covert privatisation agenda in the form of Article 133.

If passed, this would remove transparency from trade negotiations (GATS and TRIPS), remove the European Parliament from any consultation on these trade negotiations and seriously undermine our control over key public services. The EU's chief negotiator for GATS, Robert Madelin, has identified the health and education sectors as 'ripe for liberalisation'.

Those trade unionists and Labour members who claim to oppose privatisation and yet support Nice should seriously rethink their position on the issue.

Nice is about how the EU should be governed

Most of the arguments from the Yes campaign are based on the lie that a rejection of Nice will end our involvement in the European Union. But this is not a referendum about our continued membership. This is not about whether we should leave the EU. It is about how the EU should be governed and our participation in that.

Equally bogus are the dire warnings of economic catastrophe if we vote NO.

They have produced no evidence whatsoever to show that a NO vote will damage the economy. There is no consensus among economists and other experts that YES will benefit our economy and NO will damage it. In fact, the EU has not insulated us from the downturn and neither will Nice. It has not protected us from budget cuts and neither will Nice.

We all know that, if there is a NO vote, the Taoiseach will be on RTE television right away to reassure Ireland and the world that this has no economic implications, that the economy is still healthy, and that we are open for business and investment. And he will be right.

The YES side are threatening the electorate that this state will be isolated in the EU if we vote NO and we will penalised by the other member states. I don't believe this will happen, but I would ask the Yes side to follow the logic of their argument. If they really believe this is the case then they are telling the Irish people we have no real choice and we will be punished for exercising our democratic rights. What does that say about democracy and accountability in the EU and in Ireland?

People are angry about this Treaty. They are angry at the fundamentally undemocratic nature of a second referendum. They are concerned about the threats to neutrality and sovereignty, and are worried about our diminishing voice in Europe. I believe that on October 19th the people should come out and reject Nice for a second time.

Let's get a Treaty we can live with. Not one dictated by others.