Libertas.org

The Government and the European Commission are "wilfully misleading and telling outright lies" on the issue of Ireland's right to veto any future World Trade Agreements, it was said this morning.

Speaking at a Press Conference in Buswells Hotel, Libertas Chairman Declan Ganley said that it was "imperative" that the Government outline the specific area in the Treaty which it believes it could invoke to veto a world trade deal.

Mr. Ganley said that the Treaty made it very clear under the Common Commercial Policy that all WTO Deals would be agreed subject to Qualified Majority Voting, and in the overwhelming majority of areas where unanimity had previously been required, those sections have now moved to QMV.

Mr. Ganley said that the only areas which remained subject to QMV were those that would affect the Government's ability to provide Healthcare and Education to the Irish people, along with Audiovisual Services. No provision of the current round of talks includes these measures, and Mr. Ganley said that it was "highly unlikely" that any future round would.

He said that it was "obvious that the Government did not have an answer", and that it was refusing to commit to using the veto for that reason.

He also revealed that Libertas had received confirmation from the EU Direct Contact Centre in Brussels that confirmed its position.

"The Government says it is opposed to the current Mandelson proposals, but refuses to say that it would veto them in their current form. This is because they will not have that tool after Lisbon. Despite a lot of argument on this issue, nobody has conclusively pointed to where the veto on Trade agreements lies. It does not lie in either transport, or intellectual property, as claimed recently, and it certainly does not lie anywhere else.

Why is the EUDCC confirming our position, when the EU Commission in Dublin and the Irish Government denies it? Brian Cowen hasn't even read the Treaty, but he denies it. All we are asking is for somebody to point out, in the text of the Treaty, where the veto lies, because they will not be able to do so.

This is an absolutely critical issue for rural Ireland and the broader Irish economy. It must be addressed, and it must be addressed immediately."

Libertas Executive Director Naoise Nunn said that the organisation had "Painstakingly researched" the issue of the veto.

"Ireland has long had an effective veto on WTO talks. Even those who have claimed that we still have one admit that the grounds on which it can be invoked are drastically reduced. In itself, this is a tremendous failure of negotiation, given the importance of those talks to a small open economy like Ireland. The fact is that it's actually worse than that. Our veto is effectively abolished under Lisbon. Others are entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.

If you put that fact in the context of proposals that would see 700,000 extra tonnes of beef imported into the EU, and every second steak eaten in Europe being of South American origin, you will see that a "Yes" vote would be a colossal error of judgement".