Lisbon Is Dead
By Mike Whitney
14/06/08 "ICH"
-- - On Friday,
Ireland
delivered a
knockout punch
to European
elites and
corporatists and
shattered their
plan for an EU Superstate. The
so-called Lisbon
Treaty was
nothing more
than a
repackaging of
the European
Constitution
that was
defeated by
French and Dutch
voters in 2005.
The treaty was
loaded with the
typical
"democratic"
gobbledygook to
conceal the
vicious
neoliberal
policies at its
heart. If it had
passed, the
treaty would
have paved the
way for greater
privatization of
public services,
diminished
workers rights,
less state
control over
trade policies
and civil
liberties, and
an aggressive
plan to
militarize
Europe.
Ireland's entire
political and
corporate class
stood foursquare
behind the
treaty, but the
Irish people
shrugged off the
fear-mongering
and bogus
promises of
prosperity and
voted No. The
referendum
results showed
53.4% voted No,
while 46.6%
voted Yes.
Despite the
massive public
relations
campaign; the
vote wasn't even
that close.
A spokesperson
for the No
campaign put it
like this:
“The Irish
people have
spoken. Contrary
to the
predictions of
social and
political
turmoil, we
believe that
hundreds of
millions of
people across
Europe will
welcome the
rejection of the
Lisbon Treaty.
This vote shows
the gulf that
exists between
the politicians
and the elites
of Europe, and
the opinions of
the people. As
in France and
the Netherlands,
the political
leaders and the
establishment
have done
everything they
could to push
this through –
and they have
failed. The
proposals to
further reduce
democracy, to
militarize the
EU and to let
private business
take over public
services have
been rejected.
Lisbon is dead.
Along with the
EU Constitution
from which it
came, it should
now be buried.”
(Socialist
Worker online)
News of the
defeat has not
been well
received in
England where
the government
of Gordon Brown
has already
indicated that
it will reject
the election
results and
"press ahead" in
an effort to
ratify the
treaty. Neither
Brown nor his
friends in
Brussels are
likely to be
deterred by
anything as
trivial as the
will of the
people. Labour
MP and former
Europe Minister
Denis MacShane
summed it up
like this:
"I personally
think that a
vote in a
foreign country
should not
determine the
democratic
decisions taken
in the British
Parliament."
MacShane's view
is apparently
shared by EC
President Jose
Manuel Barroso
who said that EU
member states
should continue
ratifying the
Lisbon treaty
even though more
than half of
Ireland's 43
constituencies
rejected it
outright. So
much for
democracy.
The Irish have
plenty to
celebrate today.
They've thrown a
spanner in the
plans of the
bankers and
corporate
mandarins who
want to replace
representative
government and
national
sovereignty with
their own skewed
vision of
capitalist
Valhalla; a Euro
Utopia where
short-term
profits always
take priority
over the needs
of people.
Bravo, Ireland.
The Irish People
have spoken.
