The discussion was opened to the floor and it was interesting to listen to the range of issues that were raised. I was struck by the number of people present at the meeting who stated that they had no information about the treaty and wanted to know where they could source relevant documentation (A copy of the Forum on Europe’s Summary Guide to the Treaty of Lisbon was made available to everybody present and the IIEA’s recent publication on the treaty was also brought to their attention).

The debate in which the audience participated highlighted some of the main concerns that people had in relation to the treaty. Reference was made to the fact that the treaty was just the ‘failed constitution’ in another guise, and that Ireland was the only country in which the people were being consulted. There was talk about ‘political elites’ and the use of the process of parliamentary ratification to ‘by-pass’ the will of the people. Others spoke of the diminished levels of influence that they believed Ireland would have as a small country under the new institutional arrangements contained within the Lisbon Treaty. Particular concern was expressed over the loss of a Commissioner per Member State. (Few in the audience seemed to appreciate that the Commissioners are supposed to represent the Community interest and take an oath of independence on taking office!).
It was asserted that the new Passarelle clauses within the Lisbon treaty meant that the people need not be consulted in future in relation to treaty changes (I pointed out that this was not so and that in most cases any changes to the treaties would have to be ratified according to the constitutional requirements of each Member State, as has been the case to date). Some concerns were expressed about the likely powers of any new President of the European Council. I expressed my view, based on my analysis of the treaty text, that the new President would have no executive powers as such, but rather would chair meetings of the European Council and serve as a representative of the EU on the international stage. I’m not sure whether anyone “won” the debate on the night but certainly I was left with the feeling that many people in the audience felt that they needed to attend several more such debates before they would be ready to make an informed decision on the treaty in the referendum in late May/early June.
Later that week I chaired a debate on the Lisbon Treaty in Blackhall Place, sponsored by the European Commission. The title of the debate was “Should Ireland ratify the EU Reform Treaty (Lisbon Treaty)?” This all-Ireland event provided an opportunity for trainees in the Law Society (Dublin), Law Society (Cork), the Kings Inns and the Institute of Professional Legal Studies in Belfast to debate the treaty. It was a fascinating exchange of views and the issues of ‘competence creep’ and ‘legitimacy’ got a very good airing! The speakers from the Law Society Dublin who spoke in favour of ratifying the treaty won the debate. One of the speakers from the Kings Inns won the title of Best Speaker on the night. Their Excellencies, the Ambassadors of Austria and Croatia were in the audience and both made very memorable contributions to the general discussion that followed the formal debate. I look forward to participating in many more such quality debates before the referendum this summer.

I suppose the first public opportunity I had as party spokesperson to try to articulate the party’s position on the Lisbon Treaty was when I travelled to Vienna in October 2007 to speak at the 7th Congress of the European Green Party. The title of my talk was: “The EU Reform treaty – Quo Vadis?” 

As a member of the Green Party’s Policy Group on Europe, I was aware that there had been a shift amongst some of the party’s membership in relation to our traditional position of opposition to successive EU treaties. As the party had not yet held its own internal convention on the Lisbon Treaty, I was not in a position to give any clear indication as to how sizeable that shift had been, or how a majority of party members would vote in relation to supporting the treaty. Therefore I tried to outline the broad options available to the party, but did not come to any definitive conclusion. I expressed my belief that the Irish Green Party could maintain its traditional position of “critical outsider” in relation to the European Union, or that it could join the majority of its sister European Green Parties by becoming a “critical insider” and supporting the broad EU project while seeking important reforms from within.

On December 12th in Seanad Éireann, in advance of the Taoiseach travelling to Lisbon to sign the treaty on behalf of the Irish Government, Senators had an opportunity to make statements on the matter in the presence of the Minister for State for European Affairs, Dick Roche. I spoke on the issue and tried to convey my own interpretations of the content of the Lisbon Treaty, while flagging some of the areas of concern for my party.

On January 15th at our weekly Parliamentary Party meeting, the six Green Party TDs and two Senators unanimously agreed that we would publicly declare our support for a Yes vote for the Lisbon Treaty. This fact was widely reported in the national media (for example, here and here
- subscription required).

On January 16th 2008, the Irish Times afforded me an opportunity to write an article for the paper, setting out my own thinking in relation to the Lisbon Treaty and reflecting some of the changing attitudes towards the EU within my party. See here (subscription required) or here. This was followed two days later by an article by former Green Party MEP, Patricia McKenna, who set out the arguments in support of a No vote for the Lisbon Treaty. 

On January 19th the Green Party held its own internal Party Convention on the Lisbon Treaty in the Hilton Hotel in Dublin. It was a really memorable day, mostly because the debate that occurred was one of the best and the most engaging that I have ever experienced in the Green Party. As I jokingly said during my introductory speech to assembled delegates, although EU treaties have a reputation for being very dull and boring and putting people to sleep, the assembled crowd of over 300 passionately engaged party members gave the lie to that perception!

I believe that because of the active engagement of the Irish Green Party with EU debates over the past decade or two, the levels of awareness and information in relation to the EU are very high amongst party members in comparison with other political parties. I pointed out that we were the only Irish political party that was democratically consulting its party members, and encouraging them to vote on what position the party should take in relation to the Lisbon Treaty. At the end of the afternoon’s debate, 63% of members voted to support the Lisbon Treaty. While that figure did not reach the two-thirds majority required by the Green Party Constitution for any fundamental change in party policy, it did indicate that attitudes amongst party members towards the EU had significantly changed.

The outcome of the party’s EU Convention meant that the party would not now adopt an official campaigning position in relation to the Lisbon Treaty. However, individual members of the party were free to campaign for a Yes or No vote as they saw fit.

Since our own internal Convention, the national campaign on the Lisbon Treaty has really kicked off. I was invited to speak at a Trinity Historical Society debate recently on the motion ‘That the European Social Model is failing us.’ Of course this motion was very relevant to the debate on the Lisbon Treaty, and so I referred to the treaty in arguing that the Social Model had not yet failed us. The debate was a very good one and fortunately the speakers against the motion won the debate!! I was impressed by the strength of commitment to the expressed values of the EU so evident amongst students both listening to, and participating in the debate.

I have also been closely following the debate on the Lisbon Treaty that is playing out in the Letters Pages of our national newspapers every day. I am particularly struck by the way in which the issue of “democracy” and the “democratic deficit” of the EU has become a central theme in the letters published. For this reason I wrote a letter about what I see as some of the challenges facing the EU as a trans-national polity in trying to democratise itself. I was happy that this letter was published in several of the national newspapers.

I look forward to using this blog as a way to keep up to date with the debate on the Lisbon Treaty and to engaging with others in discussing many of the complex political issues that will arise during that debate.