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Monday, June 16, 2008

EU leaders bully Ireland

We are keeping tabs on what EU leaders are saying in response to the Irish no vote. Its become totally clear that they want to isolate and bully Ireland. If you think we have missed any important comments oplease post below and we will include them...

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"I don't think you can say the treaty of Lisbon is dead even if the ratification process will be delayed."

- Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French secretary of state for European affairs, Reuters, 16 June

"I am convinced that we need this treaty. Therefore we are sticking with our goal for it to come into force. The ratification process must continue."

- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier Reuters, 14 June

"Of course we have to take the Irish referendum seriously. But a few million Irish cannot decide on behalf of 495 million Europeans,"

- German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Deutsche Welle

"We think it is a real cheek that the country that has benefited most from the EU should do this. There is no other Europe than this treaty. With all respect for the Irish vote, we cannot allow the huge majority of Europe to be duped by a minority of a minority of a minority."

- Axel Schäfer, SPD leader in the Bundestag, Irish Times, 14 June

The treaty "will be applied, albeit a few months late".

Lopez Garrido, Spanish secretary of state for EU affairs, Forbes, 15 June

"The Treaty is not dead. The Treaty is alive, and we will try to work to find a solution."

- European Commission President Jose Barroso, Press Conference, 14 June

"Citizens are transmitting signals of fear and uncertainty. You can say it’s not rational, but we need to react because they are signs of difficulties with the democratic process."

- Giulio Tremonti, Italian finance minister, FT, 16 June

"Now is the time for a courageous choice by those who want coherent progress in building Europe, leaving out those who despite solemn, signed pledges threaten to block it."

- Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Irish Times, 14 June

"In no case should the Union be stopped in its tracks. We need to examine the existing possibilities to assure in any case the entry into force of the Treaty and to associate Ireland with it."

- Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, AFP, 14 June

"The treaty is not dead. The EU is in constant crisis management -- we go from one crisis to another and finally we find a solution,"

- Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, Deutsche Welle, 16 June

"We shall effectively look for ways to ensure it comes into force. Irrespective of the results of the referendum in Ireland, I think that we can deliver an optimistic message - Europe will find a way of implementing this treaty,"

- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, BBC, 13 June

"As in previous such situations, we shall overcome. I am convinced that sooner or later these reforms will see the light of day."

- Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, Reuters, 17 June


...Though there is one dissenting voice…

"The project is over in its entirety. It makes no sense to continue the ratification of a dead document. The Irish No vote represents a victory for freedom and reason over artificial elitist projects and European bureaucracy".

- Czech President Vaclav Klaus, EUobserver, 16 June

3 comments:

Liam Murray said...

It's the language that I've taken issue with today - this notion of a living, breathing thing that Ireland has somehow tried to suffocate is getting things the wrong way round.

Anonymous said...

So to paraphrase the leadership, "Resistance is futile". Farewell, then, democracy.

Anonymous said...

Irish friends,

I am french and I know what happened when people vote no.

I don't speak english very well, but I want to say I'm happy of the isris "no".

You have said what many people didn't have the right to say, and now they want to organize a way for making aplication of the treaty!

Irish be proud of your vote, and be careful, they will try to break your decision!

I Know what I said, I'm french...