The Case Against the EU Lisbon Treaty.

cork | eu | event notice Saturday January 12, 2008 19:53 by Joe Moore - Socialist Workers Party mapuche at eircom dot net 087-2994796

Public Meeting Cork.

The Socialist Workers Party will host a public forum outlining the case against the EU Lisbon Treaty on Thursday 31st January in the Victoria Hotel, Cork at 8.00pm. Speaker Kieran Allen, author of "The Corporate Takeover of Ireland"

The French NO vote in 2005 terrified the ruling class across Europe and now they wait anxiously on the Irish vote.Party leaders Bertie Ahern, Enda Kenny, Eamonn Gilmore and John Gormley have assured them that everything will be allright on the day.
But if the lessons of the French referendum are quickly learnt there could be another resounding NO.
The first is that the way to win is to fight from the left. Irish debates on the EU have focused for too long on "national sovereignty" and defending De Valera's constitution of 1937. The NO campaign should not try to re-take that rhetoric.
Instead over the next few months, the campaign needs to go to postal workers to show how the EU postal directive will affect their jobs. It should remind the families of Aer Lingus workers how the EU was used to privatise the national airline. It should alert everyone to the dangers posed to public services by the philosophy of a "free, undistorted market". It should mobilise the anti-war movement to oppose the EU battle groups and not be taken in by talk of "humanitarian missions" which are a cover for power grabs.
By tapping into this enormous well of resentment and resistance, a powerful movement can be built to challenge the elite.
Among the major changes the Lisbon Treaty will bring are;
A requirement on member states to increase military spending. Article 27-3 states that" member states shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities".
A legal requirement forcing member states to make troops available for EU battle groups (article 27-3)
A fast track system whereby the Commission can conduct negotiations with agencies such as the World Trade Organisation on the premise of promoting a)"the achievement of uniformity in measures of liberalism"
b)the "progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade and on foreign direct investment" article 188.
In practice this implies a greater push towards privatisation and globalisation that will become binding on member states.
The more formal creation of an EU state which has its own distinct "legal personality".
Greater use of Qualified Majority Voting to give the EU more"competencies" over member states..
Thanks to the legal actions of Raymond Crotty, the Irish people are the only people who can vote on these hugely important issues.
We should exercise that vote on behalf of the whole people of Europe.

Kieran Allen has written a new guide to the EU Lisbon Treaty and will put the case for a NO vote on Thursday 31st January in the Victoria Hotel.