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Lisbon - Greater Efficiency or Democracy - Which is it Dick?

Written by Libertas
Friday, 11 April 2008
Those campaigning for a "Yes" vote in the Lisbon treaty referendum should state whether they agree with European Commission Vice President Margot Wallstrom when she said that the Lisbon Treaty would make the EU less democratic, Libertas is saying today. Wallstrom, who visited Ireland several weeks ago to support the Treaty, said on Wednesday about the Treaty: "Whatever we win in efficiency we might lose in democratic legitimacy because we need someone who can speak their own language and be acceptable to their people and stand up for them. We have only started to reflect on how it can work in practice with losing a Commissioner and we have to find a system – and this is the downside and definitely a problematic thing". Commenting on Ms. Wallstrom's remarks, Libertas Campaign Director David Cochrane said: "Here we have the Vice President of the EU Commission effectively saying that the Lisbon treaty will damage Ireland. She is saying that the EU Commission is sacrificing democratic accountability and legitimacy for the sake of being able to make decisions more efficiently and quickly. This is an enormous admission for a commission official to make. Our own Government has 15 ministers and 20 ministers of state – an executive of 35 in total - for a population of 4 million people. Yet they tell us we can't have an executive of 27 for 400 million people. It just doesn't add up. During the Nice campaign, the Government promised that Ireland would keep its Commissioner for at least "130 years". It is absolute nonsense to suggest that our loss of a Commissioner for five out of every 15 years, together with a halving of our vote in the Council is somehow counterbalanced by the suggestion that: "Ah sure, everyone loves the Irish and we punch above our weight" - that's rubbish, and should be treated as such. A small country with a localized political system is affected to a far greater extent by the loss of a Commissioner than a large state with a large number of MEPs and a higher voting weight. At any rate, can anyone on the Yes side tell us how many Commission staff will be laid off as a result of this sudden rush to make the Commission more efficient? The answer is none, - because this is not about real reform. The Vice President of the EU Commission has now flatly contradicted what our own Government have been telling us. The fact is that this Treaty is bad for Ireland, and bad for democracy in Europe. I applaud Ms. Wallstrom for at least having the honesty to admit it. Libertas is urging the Irish public to Vote No to Lisbon to keep our permanent Commissioner in Brussels - we believe many of the other member states will thank Ireland for it."
Last Updated ( Friday, 11 April 2008 )

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