MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU-scuttle Irish vote triggers strong Paris-Berlin reaction

Irish voters dealt a stunning blow to the European Union by decisively rejecting the institutional reforms of the Lisbon treaty. Official Thursday referendum results released on Friday showed 53.4% of Irish voters said NO and 46.6%, YES.

Reacting to the news from Dublin on Friday José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, called on EU member states to continue ratifying the Lisbon treaty. "The No vote in Ireland has not solved the problems which the Lisbon treaty is designed to solve... The European Commission believes that the remaining ratifications should continue to take their course", he insisted. However the vote against Lisbon could plunge EU leaders into a crisis almost identical to that which gripped the 27-nation bloc when Dutch and French voters threw out a proposed EU constitutional treaty in 2005. Eighteen states (out of 27) have already approved the treaty and they may well resent their efforts being ruled null and void by the three million voters of Ireland. That could mean that by the end of the year there are 26 states who have ratified, and one - Ireland - that has not. A joint statement from the French and German governments agreed on the quick reaction: "We take note of the democratic decision of the Irish citizens with all due respect, even though we regret it." French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel went on to note that the Lisbon treaty had been ratified by 18 of the EU 27 member states. "We therefore hope that the other member states will continue the process of ratification." But some politicians are not so convinced and fear it could again resurface the idea of a two tier, two speeds EU, with those states who want a deeper European integration moving faster. EU leaders, who are due to hold a summit in Brussels next Thursday and Friday, are expected to react to the Irish No by reaffirming the need for all other EU member-states to ratify the treaty and the French-German statement seems to indicate the way. Eighteen countries have so far approved Lisbon in their parliaments, but the vote in Ireland – the only country to submit the treaty to a referendum – is sufficient to mean that the reforms contained in the document cannot come into effect. These include the appointment of the EU first full-time president, a strengthened role for the EU foreign policy chief, increased powers for the European Parliament and national parliaments, a slimmed-down European Commission and a reform of the EU voting rules. The Irish vote leaves the EU looking as if its ambitions to play a bigger role on the world stage are constantly being frustrated by its inability to reach a long-term settlement on its highly complicated internal arrangements. The first response of EU leaders, while insisting that the ratification process in other countries must go ahead, will be to analyse the reasons why the Irish rejected Lisbon. Only later will they decide what steps are feasible to preserve the treaty's reforms – or as many as politically possible. The result was also a blow for the Irish political and business establishment. All the main parties were united in support of a Yes vote and had the backing of big companies and small business associations alike. Voter turnout was 54% which is considered acceptable.