Lisbon Treaty Updates

by The Bruges Group Newsletter - 06:55 on 16 June 2009

Update 17th June - We're not sure how much influence the Bruges Group is having within the Tory party. We had the definate Lisbon Treaty referendum speech prior to the EU elections and now Ken Clarke says the opposite. If David Cameron and William Hague are serious about rebuilding this country and our trust in politics, then they have to address this now and we call upon the Bruges Group Tory members to force their committment one way or the other.

In advance of the key EU Summit on the future of the Lisbon Treaty, which will take place this Thursday and Friday, the Bruges Group will discuss its implications with Irish ‘No’ campaigner Dr Anthony Coughlan. At this summit it is proposed that a series of 'guarantees' will be added to the Treaty to try and steer its ratification through in a second Irish Lisbon referendum.

This summit will have an important effect on the future of the EU and the Conservative Party’s policy on the European Union. The summit will be used to try and persuade Ireland's voters to overturn their rejection of the Lisbon Treaty a year ago and vote ‘Yes’ to exactly the same Treaty in a second referendum in October. The Treaty would then come into force for all 27 EU States on 1st January 2010 before a general election in Britain could install a Conservative Government that is committed to holding a referendum on it in the UK if it has not yet come into force.

There is no legal reason why the Irish Government's second Lisbon referendum must be held in October. This date stems purely from a political commitment that the Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, has given the other EU governments, who are desperate that Lisbon should be brought into force before a UK general election. Forcing any Government led by David Cameron, as recently discussed by Ken Clarke, to accept the Lisbon Treaty as a fait accompli.

Anthony Coughlan will say at Wednesday’s meeting of the Bruges Group,
“The main purpose of the June EU summit meeting will be to play an elaborate game of political and diplomatic hocus-pocus aimed at deceiving Irish voters into thinking that the Lisbon Treaty which they rejected by referendum last year is being changed, when no such change is actually taking place.

“Any change to the Treaty would require ratification from scratch of such changes by all 27 EU States again, so nothing like that is envisaged. What the summit meeting plans is a series of declarations and political promises that will not change the reality of the Lisbon Treaty one iota.”

Dr Anthony Coughlan will also call on the British people to encourage the Irish people and the Irish Government to hold the proposed Lisbon Two referendum in Ireland on the same day as a UK referendum on the same Treaty. And that the Irish Government should be appealed to postpone the envisaged October date for that referendum until there is a new Government in the UK which can hold a referendum there.

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