Peter Power TD on the Lisbon Treaty
Peter Power—Limerick East TD, and recently-appointed Minister of State for Overseas Development—has written a guest post for The Limerick Blogger on the Lisbon Treaty. The ‘yes’ camp has been fairly quiet up to recently, but, with the appointment of Taoiseach Cowen, it looks like that’s going to change. Given that the Treaty has already triggered so much debate in the comments here, we thought we might as well get a few more perspectives. So without further ado, here’s the unedited text of Peter’s piece:
“Everyone knows that joining the EU was one of the best decisions our country ever made. A generation of true patriots saw that Ireland’s future was in Europe. Leaders like Seán Lemass and Paddy Hillery made sure that we didn’t join what is now the European Union in a defensive way – we joined as active and positive members. This is why it has worked so well for us. Others have sat at the margins but we have been at the centre, shaping a Union which has helped us and Europe as a whole to prosper.
As I travel across Limerick meeting people they often ask me ‘why do we need yet another European referendum?’ The answer is quite simple – the world is changing and so too must the EU. To tackle modern forces such as globalisation, climate change and cross-border crime countries cannot stand alone; and for us this means that we need an EU which has the structures, policies and procedures capable of having an impact.
This is what lies at the heart of the Lisbon Reform Treaty and this is why it is important for Ireland and for Europe that it be ratified.
The Treaty is the result of eight years of consultations and negotiations. Much of the detail of the Treaty was directly shaped during our Presidency of the European Council.
This is a good and balanced treaty which protects what works best in the Union and reforms it in important ways. The most significant of these changes are:
· It reforms the EU’s institutions and decision-making procedures – especially in ensuring that it can cope with the trebling of membership since we joined.
· It introduces a number of changes to increase transparency and democratic oversight of the Union.
· It expands the Union’s role in peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts authorised by the United Nations.
· It ensures that the Union has a clearer voice on the world stage.
· It strengthens the Union’s power to act on major challenges such as climate change, cross-border crime and energy security.
Bringing the positive message of these important changes to every community in the country is at the core of the campaign that the Fianna Fáil organisation is undertaking under the determined leadership of our new leader and Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Ours is a positive message, but we will not be slow to counter the attacks of those who want Ireland to change its approach to Europe. During every European referendum groups have emerged which have claimed that deep conspiracies are being hatched against the people of Ireland. The most common tactic has not been to try to persuade people, but to try to confuse them.
We have no intention of standing back and letting them distort the Treaty or demonise a Union which is so important to the success of modern Ireland.
The Government is focusing all its efforts during this time of international economic uncertainty on trying to help businesses through these difficult times and the message is very clear; now more than ever we need the EU. We need it to be able to open up markets in Europe and the wider world for our companies. We need it to support our companies in finding new products to exploit these markets We need it to invest in building up our infrastructure.
This is why IBEC, the Small Firms Association and other organisations representing job creators are all supporting the Treaty.
Europe has also been central to supporting rural communities in a wide range of ways. We are determined that this support will continue, but we have to make sure that we do nothing to damage our ability to build strong alliances with other countries.
The bottom line is that this Treaty is true to the model of a European Union which has delivered so much for Ireland. Ireland needs the Union to be efficient and effective, and Ireland needs it to focus on meeting ever-changing modern challenges.
If Europe is to remain relevant, if it is to continue to be a driver of peace and prosperity it cannot stand still. This is why we need reform and we need the Lisbon Reform Treaty.”