2nd referendum in Ireland about the Lisbon Treaty – October 2, 2009
The EU concerns us all!
The Lisbon Treaty
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will provide the legal foundation for the whole EU
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in order to become effective must be ratified by all 27 member states
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was already turned down as a „constitutional treaty" in 2005 by voters in national referendums in France and the Netherlands
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was turned down as the „Lisbon Treaty" in July 2008 by the Irish population
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the populations of the other EU countries were not even asked to vote
The 2nd referendum
In order to convince the Irish electorate to vote Yes, their own government and the EU Council have made – legally non-binding – promises regarding neutrality, their own EU commissioner, tax law and abortion. However, they will be voting a second time on exactly the same contract as before.
In our view, it is just as undemocratic to have an electorate vote on the same issue twice as it is to simply ignore the three previous plebiscites.
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The Lisbon Treaty would seriously impact the lives of all EU citizens for decades to come. Any later amendment of the treaty after its ratification would be extremely difficult.
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If the Irish voters were to vote No for a second time, it would provide us with a unique opportunity to discuss in a Europe-wide grass-roots process the content of a new treaty and to contribute to its development.
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Committed people throughout Europe have got together in order to build a new and better European Union.
We say YES to a peaceful, social, ecological and democratic Europe, but NO to the militarisation of the EU, its neoliberal orientation and the erosion of democratic rights.
We say YES to a democratic new beginning.
In order to make this new beginning possible, we need your help.
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