Also includes Updates from the last vote, with additional information.
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Why Ireland should vote No to the Lisbon Treaty
I am going to keep this simple.
Firstly, as I am sure people following the progress of the Lisbon Treaty will know, Ireland is the only country in the European Union who’s Constitution requires the ratification of the Treaty to be put to a public vote. Good. The re-wording of the original European Constitution to a Treaty in reality changes nothing of its content as the orignal Constitution is for all intents and purposes, intact in the Lisbon Treaty, albeit hidden. Disagree?
How about from the mouths of those whom one would expect to know, starting with the architect of the original Constitution, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who states, in the Telegraph, 27 June 2007;
“This text is, in fact, a rerun of a great part of the substance of the Constitutional Treaty.”
He also appears in the Telegraph again where it is stated;
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the architect of the abandoned European Constitution, has admitted that the document has been rewritten by EU leaders in a different order just to avoid the need for referendums.
He made clear that the purpose of the rewritten Treaty (now called the Lisbon Treaty) was to make people think the new version did not merit being put to the people in referendums.
“Above all, it is to avoid having referendums thanks to the fact that the articles are spread out and constitutional vocabulary has been removed,” he added.
Here some more quotes, from an earlier article of mine;
Germany
“The substance of the Constitution is preserved. That is a fact.”
(Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, Telegraph, 29 June 2007)Spain
“We have not let a single substantial point of the Constitutional Treaty go… It is, without a doubt, much more than a treaty. This is a project of foundational character, a treaty for a new Europe.”
(Jose Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister, speech, 27 June 2007)Ireland
“90 per cent of it is still there… these changes haven’t made any dramatic change to the substance of what was agreed back in 2004.”
(Bertie Ahern, Irish Taoiseach, Irish Independent, 24 June 2007)The European Commission
“It’s essentially the same proposal as the old Constitution.”
(Margot Wallstrom, EU Commissioner, Svenska Dagbladet, 26 June 2007)
And so on… So yes, it is all still there, just a different lick of paint and buried in other documents you have probably never read either.
But what is there exactly? What does the Lisbon Treaty mean for Brussels, and for its member states (who apart from Ireland, were all refused a say on the Treaty because the People were overwhelmingly against it).
In a nutshell;
An analysis by Prof. Anthony Coughlan
Today the European Union leaders signed the Lisbon Treaty. This treaty gives the EU the constitutional form of a state. These are the ten most important things the Lisbon Treaty does:
1. It establishes a legally new European Union in the constitutional form of a supranational European State.
2. It empowers this new European Union to act as a State vis-a-vis other States and its own citizens.
3. It makes us all citizens of this new European Union.
4. To hide the enormity of the change, the same name – European Union – will be kept while the Lisbon Treaty changes fundamentally the legal and constitutional nature of the Union.
5. It creates a Union Parliament for the Union’s new citizens.
6. It creates a Cabinet Government of the new Union.
7. It creates a new Union political President.
8. It creates a civil rights code for the new Union’s citizens.
9. It makes national Parliaments subordinate to the new Union.
10. It gives the new Union self-empowerment powers.
The complete article (which should definitely be read) is revealingly named ‘These Boots Are Gonna Walk All Over You‘ and is located here.
So, what to do? Your government is telling you to vote Yes (although they would much rather just refused you a vote altogether), many unions and groups are campaigning against the Treaty, not sure what you are going to do? Firstly, I strongly suggest you use your vote. This Treaty will give the EU superior powers over all of your Laws (including your Constitution). This is a FACT. The European Union is just dying to expand the EU into North Africa and accelerate its expansion. Also a FACT. The French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner is currently threatening Ireland at the prospect of you guys and gals kicking the elitists in Brussels where it hurts. Apparently;
Mr Kouchner said that a “No” vote would be met by “gigantic incomprehension” in the rest of Europe.
That is a lie. It is also a blanket statement made by one politician who claims to speak for Europe which is strange considering the Lisbon Treaty was crafted specifically to stop the People having a say on it. He is just trying to use the spectre of Europe as a battering ram to frighten you into capitulating to the demands of Brussels. In truth however;
75% of people in the EU want a referendum on any new treaty which gives more powers to the EU. In the UK, 83% would want a vote to be held. A majority in all 27 countries would want a referendum.
Which brings me to my final points. The first is, what is so democratic and freedom-loving about threatening countries who may disagree with the EU? The little dictator-in-training continued;
“It would be very, very, very troubling…that we could not count on the Irish, who themselves have counted a lot on Europe’s money,”
So the EU was just pretending to be helpful, when in reality it was trying to set Ireland up to leverage power from them in the future. Sounds like the antics of a loan shark doesn’t it? This brings me to my final point.
Whether you currently think Yes or No, there is a 99.9% change that you do not really know what is in the Treaty. I don’t mean you couldn’t understand it, I just mean that you haven’t read it. This is not surprising considering the EU is refusing to allow member governments to publish readable versions of the Treaty until it is completely ratified!
So when you go to vote, just imagine you are in a bank to sign a contract on a home you already own. The suit across the table is trying to convince you to sign it. The document you have is literally unreadable. You are not sure what is in it, but you do know that at the very least it will result in massive changes in the way you can govern your own home. You don’t know how though. You don’t know how much it will cost in the future or what direction it will take either. But you do know that signing this contract means the rules you used to live by will now become secondary to the rules of that Bank. But you don’t know what the Bank’s rules are. You do know that the Banks accounts have not been signed off for at least the past 14 years because of rampant corruption and misuse of funds. You do know that a very large number of people are against the EU’s legal framework and the Lisbon Treaty. You do know that the contract contains a self amendment clause (Article 48) which will enable them to;
give the EU powers to amend its own treaties, without recourse to an intergovernmental conference or a new Treaty. It is also unclear whether this ’simplified revision procedure’ would be subject to a referendum.
These are some other things you do know, from the National Platform EU Research and Information Centre via Wise Up Journal (each point in explained in detail in the source article);
1. Lisbon makes the EU Constitution superior to the Irish Constitution in all areas of EU law.
2. Lisbon gives the EU the constitutional form of a supranational European Federal State and turns Ireland and the other Member States into regions or provinces of this Federation.
3. Lisbon shifts influence over law-making and decision-taking in the EU towards the Big States and away from the smaller ones like Ireland.
4. Lisbon removes Ireland’s right to a permanent EU Commissioner.
5. Lisbon deprives the Irish Government of its right to decide who Ireland’s Commissioner would be when it comes to our turn to be on the Commission.
6. Lisbon gives the European Union the power to make laws in 32 new areas that are removed from the Dail and other National Parliaments.
7. Lisbon is a self-amending Treaty which would open the way to harmonising Ireland’s company taxes.
8. Lisbon gives the EU the power to decide our human and civil rights.
9. Lisbon provides that if one-third of National Parliaments object to the Commission’s proposal for an EU law, the Commission must reconsider it, but not necessarily abandon it.
10. Lisbon militarizes the EU further.
Finally, if you think you can just opt out of it afterwards, think again;
David Cameron yesterday said it would be “almost impossible” to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if it was already law in the UK and the rest of the EU.
So, would you still sign that contract or refuse to do so until you can appreciate the number of changes it may make and what the effects of those changes could be on your life and that of your community?
Go Ireland!
* * UPDATES * *
Another example of EU tactics. Samples below (my emphasis);
“The French white paper on EU defence has been ready for release since May, but the French government are withholding it until after the Irish referendum,” the MEP said, demanding that the text be released immediately.
The Lisbon Treaty states that Ireland is not obliged to take part in, or be bound by, decisions in the area of freedom, security and justice, such as military cooperation.
But Ms Sinnott insists that under the new treaty, Ireland could lose its long-cherished military neutrality. She points to a clause in the treaty which states that “member states shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities.”
“Even if the Lisbon Treaty gives us the right to keep our veto on sending Irish soldiers to the world’s hot spots under an EU flag, we would not have the right to refuse to join the EU arms race,” Ms Sinnott told EUobserver.
“In the name of solidarity with the other member states, we would have to keep our machinery up to date, send our military experts and increase defence spending. Irish tax-payers would have to pay for EU weaponry.“
Remember, this is before any ’self-amendments’ ( Article 48 ) which in theory could alter the structure of the Treaties completely, taking away whatever ‘opt outs’ countries like Ireland and the UK claim to have.
More information about this EU army from the BBC;
An influential Polish member of the European parliament has called for the EU to develop “hard power” and spend more money to build a European army.
Foreign affairs committee chairman Jacek Saryusz-Wolski also wants the European parliament to have the final say on deployments under the EU flag.
The French have said beefing up the EU’s military capability will be a key part of their six-month presidency.
And from the Daily Mail;
Moves to create a European Army controlled from Brussels have been revealed.
France is pushing for a new dedicated military headquarters and more fighting formations.
The French take over the EU presidency next month and will use their six-month term to drive forward ambitious plans to develop Europe’s own military structures – a move which critics claim will undermine Nato by excluding the U.S.
From Open Europe, these plans are revealed in the first page of their document entitled ‘The French EU Presidency 2008 – What to Expect, pdf download here;
The upcoming French Presidency of the EU, which begins on 1 July 2008, promises to
be busy and extremely ambitious.Nicolas Sarkozy’s top priorities for the six months include:
1) Laying the groundwork for an EU defence force and common EU defence policy;
2) Forging a common EU immigration and asylum policy;
3) Setting up the new institutions set out in the Lisbon Treaty – e.g. appointing a new EU foreign Minister and a permanent EU President ready to start work in January.Other priorities for the Presidency are: reaching agreement on EU proposals to combat
climate change; protecting French agriculture in negotiations on the CAP; and thrashing
out the shape of the proposed “Mediterranean Union.”
I thought I may add this, also from the above document;
The French also want to press ahead with EU measures on illegal immigration, including common policies for issuing visas to nationals from approved third countries. Jean-Pierre Jouyet has said: “We must also organise active cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration. For that, we need common practices in the field of issuing of visas. There are different attitudes among European countries. We will endeavor to define common standards for the issuing of visas for the nationals of a certain number of countries.” He said, “We must develop a common European approach regarding countries of origin – I am thinking of Africa, the Maghreb, and also our Mediterranean and central Asian neighbours.“
So they want to deal with illegal immigration by simply legalising it! And to encourage millions more economic migrants into the EU. Yes, it actually says that in the document;
Indeed part of the French plan will be to increase the proportion of economic migrants
coming to Europe. Nicolas Sarkozy has said these should make up 50% of entrants
(compared to 7% currently in France)
It gets worse and worse. No wonder they are trying to keep their plans quiet until after the referendum!
* * UPDATE 2 * *
More information on the EU for you, from Prisonplanet and Paul Joseph Watson;
In light of tomorrow’s all important vote, it’s necessary to recap on the disturbing warning of former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovksy, who personally saw secret documents in 1992 which outlined a conspiracy to turn the European Union into a Socialist dictatorship.
In a 2006 speech in Brussels, 63-year old Vladimir Bukovksy described the content of still classified Politburo and Central Committee documents. The Soviet files outlined a plan from the mid-1980’s onwards to hijack the European Union and turn it into what Bukovksy calls the EUSSR, a totalitarian federal superstate with no accountability or direct representation. The policy was “a conspiracy, quite openly made by them, agreed upon, and worked out.”
“It is no accident that the European Parliament, for example, reminds me of the Supreme Soviet. It looks like the Supreme Soviet because it was designed like it. Similarly, when you look at the European Commission it looks like the Politburo. I mean it does so exactly, except for the fact that the Commission now has 25 members and the Politburo usually had 13 or 15 members. Apart from that they are exactly the same, unaccountable to anyone, not directly elected by anyone at all. When you look into all this bizarre activity of the European Union with its 80,000 pages of regulations it looks like Gosplan. We used to have an organisation which was planning everything in the economy, to the last nut and bolt, five years in advance. Exactly the same thing is happening in the EU. When you look at the type of EU corruption, it is exactly the Soviet type of corruption, going from top to bottom rather than going from bottom to top.”
Bukovksy warns that hate speech laws are being crafted to label anyone who disagrees with the EU or is deemed politically incorrect as racist, meaning imprisonment in facilities not so far removed from the psychiatric institutions which he endured in the 60’s and 70’s.
In regards to outlawing parties that are critical of the EU, here is more evidence from the Telegraph;
Plans to eliminate Eurosceptics as an organised opposition within the European Parliament are expected to be agreed by a majority of MEPs this summer.
Info regarding the legal precedence for this is here;
Political parties will be abolished, phased out or realigned. Only Pan European parties will be allowed. Independence parties will effectively be outlawed as under the 1999 ruling of the European Court Of Justice (case 274/99), it is illegal to criticize the EU. The EU will have the legal right to close National Parliaments and Assemblies.
And it looks like the EU is trying to bribe voters;
A newspaper advertisement for the Irish airline AerLingus has been described as a “blatant pre-referendum bribe” by Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party.
The advert, which promises free flights to Dublin “part financed by the European Union Peace and Reconciliation Programme”, comes as polls in Ireland over the Lisbon Treaty referendum are almost too close to call.
“For these ads to come out now, pretending to show the largesse of the EU, is extraordinary,” said Mr Farage. “They must be in breach of electoral rules so close to the vote.
“Free flights home paid for by the EU for the hundreds of thousands of Irish people in England ? This is a parody of normal democratic standards.
“What is more, for a European Commission that keeps on going on about green issues to finance free flights makes a mockery of its so-called green agenda.”
Will keep you posted on new information I find as I find it.
* * UPDATE 3 * *
Ireland, Save Us All From The EU Empire
These are details of the Treaty contents:
- reactivation of the death penalty. If police forces chiefs decide that a demonstration is part of a “civil disorder” these forces are allowed to use fire weapons against demonstrations.
- all national police forces are allowed to take action in all European countries.
- workers doing jobs in other EU countries will receive average wages of their country of origin. Meanwhile the corporate battle for even lower payment has begun already, all over Europe.
- constitutions of former independent republics will be suspended or outvoted by the EU Supreme Court, the “European Court”.
In fact, EU law will be above all, only alterable by the EU commission which actually is a circle of executive branches.
- only the assembly of heads of executive branches of 25 EU countries have the right to change this de-facto European “constitution” any time they like – by simple majority. Parliaments, congresses, and national constitution courthouses won´t be in charge of the process, won´t even be asked.
- all forces in all EU countries will have the “duty” of rearmament – as best as they can, payed by peoples taxes
* * UPDATE 4 * *
EU Observer is reporting that the No camp in Ireland is leading in the polls.
Rural and working class Ireland has strongly voted No to the Lisbon Treaty, and middle-class districts are not as robustly supporting the Yes side as analysts had predicted.
Dublin south west, north west, centre and north east – the latter a strongly middle-class area – have all broken 60 percent against the treaty. The Irish Times is reporting that Dublin south east has voted 70-30 for the No side.
The important thing is showing the dictators in Brussels and the rest of the nations of Europe that the People do not like where the EU is going. We need to keep up the pressure and keep explaining to people what the Lisbon Treaty actually contains. The federalist EUSSR masterplan must fail, for all our freedoms.
* * UPDATE 5 * *
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1 comment:
The Labour Party's commitment to the Lisbon Treaty is treacherous and illegitimate. No future government is obliged to honour their agreement unless and until the people of the UK were ever stupid enough to actually consent to such a thing.
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