Barraso EU Ireland

EU Commissioner Threatens Ireland if They Vote Against the Lisbon Treaty…….

EU’s wise guy

European Commission president José Manuel Barroso:
I make you an offer you can’t a refuse,
or I break a you a legs!

Oh, the Irish are a quaking in their boots over that one. The Irish are the only ones that stand in the way of the already twice defeated European constitution, from being approved in the upcoming referendum. That the Irish have to vote again at all, speaks loudly of the kind of democracy at work here in Europe. Vote, vote and vote again till the population gets it right.

The Tundra Tabloids asks its Irish readers to please comment on this post and let us all know how the Irish people are taking to this latest threat by Barroso. If you have any worthwhile observations, the TT will put them up for all to see.  KGS

H/T Gates of Vienna

IRELAND COULD lose its right to nominate an EU commissioner if it rejects the Lisbon Treaty for a second time, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso has warned.

He has also predicted a No vote on October 2nd would create uncertainty about Ireland’s place in Europe, threaten jobs and investment, and damage the economy.

“Honestly, there are some doubts now about the future situation of Ireland. Some people have asked me: Is Ireland going to leave the EU? For investor confidence, it is important that there is certainty about the future of Ireland in the EU,” said Mr Barroso, who arrives in Ireland today for a two-day visit, during which he will meet civil society groups, students and politicians.

Mr Barroso said Ireland would not be forced to leave the union in the event of a No vote. But he said not all audiences understood how the EU worked, citing the example of US firms asking him if Ireland would stay in the EU. “Perceptions count in politics . . . I tell you this very frankly. I believe confidence is part of the economy, as we have been seeing recently,” he said.

He told The Irish Times a No vote could also result in Ireland losing its automatic right to nominate a person to the commission, the EU executive branch that proposes new legislation and manages the EU budget.

“The only way to ensure that Ireland will always have a commissioner is to vote Yes to Lisbon. If not, of course we have to reduce the amount of commissioners. This is in the current treaties and we are legally obliged to do it,” said Mr Barroso in a reference to the Nice Treaty, which stipulates the number of commissioners must be less than the number of member states.

To accommodate Irish concerns following the first No vote last June, EU leaders agreed to invoke a clause in the Lisbon Treaty that would enable the commission to remain at 27 members. But the current EU treaties do not have this clause, which would prompt an immediate institutional problem if the Irish people vote No a second time and Lisbon cannot enter into force.

Mr Barroso said there was no agreement yet on a proposal by Sweden to allow 26 member states to retain a commissioner and give the 27th country the right to appoint a new EU high representative for foreign affairs. “There are different scenarios. Some people say we should have a commission of 15 members. It’s too soon to speculate,” he added.

Mr Barroso said he was not threatening the Irish people, but wanted to put across his honest and frank assessment of the consequences of a second No.

“We respect the vote of the Irish people. It has to be very clear that we are making no threats at all. I don’t want to put any kind of pressure on people. It’s up to each Irish citizen to make his or her decision,” he said.

One Response

  1. I live in Finland and I have two irish friends. I am proud friend of Ireland and irish people. I hope they will vote against Lisbon treaty again. We dont need SovietEuropeanUnion where our Moscow will be Brussel. We need union of independent countries which gives real power to native citizens in every European country. Leading from the top to crassroots is impossible direction when elite doesnt know how different Eu is in fact. What is okay in Italy, is not automatically okay in Finland.

    And think that possibility that Berlusconi will be a president of EU some day 😉

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