Loyalist
12-11-2008, 05:00 PM
The Irish Republic is willing to hold a second referendum on the EU's reform treaty if given certain guarantees by the EU, a spokesman has told the BBC.
Those legally binding guarantees are to be discussed by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.
The Lisbon Treaty has been on ice since being rejected by Irish voters in June.
The summit is also due to take crucial decisions on EU measures to tackle climate change, and to consider an EU-wide economic stimulus plan.
Opening the meeting on Thursday French President Nicolas Sarkozy, chairing the summit, said he hoped his fellow leaders would be able to unite on a climate package.
"Europe must not provide the spectacle of its own division," he said.
The mechanism for a second referendum is included in draft conclusions which are being presented by the current holders of the EU presidency, France, and which have been seen by the BBC.
According to the draft, the Irish government says "it is committed to seeking ratification" of the Lisbon Treaty by end of October next year.
An Irish government spokesman told the BBC that it was "seeking legally binding instruments to address the concerns of the Irish people", and that once it got those assurances, it would present "a roadmap for ratification", that would include another referendum.
The EU is set to offer guarantees that the treaty will not affect three main areas of concern to Irish "No" voters - abortion, Irish neutrality and taxation, says the BBC's Europe editor Mark Mardell.
Ireland is also likely to be able to keep its EU commissioner.
But Declan Ganley, the chairman of the Libertas group that led the No campaign in the first Irish referendum, said this was an example of the Irish being dictated to.
"Do we think that democracy is important in Europe or do we want to exist in some post-democratic environment where European affairs are concerned?" he said.
He also announced that his Libertas group would be standing on an anti-treaty platform across the EU during next year's parliamentary elections. (Continues)
SOURCE (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7776961.stm)
Those legally binding guarantees are to be discussed by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.
The Lisbon Treaty has been on ice since being rejected by Irish voters in June.
The summit is also due to take crucial decisions on EU measures to tackle climate change, and to consider an EU-wide economic stimulus plan.
Opening the meeting on Thursday French President Nicolas Sarkozy, chairing the summit, said he hoped his fellow leaders would be able to unite on a climate package.
"Europe must not provide the spectacle of its own division," he said.
The mechanism for a second referendum is included in draft conclusions which are being presented by the current holders of the EU presidency, France, and which have been seen by the BBC.
According to the draft, the Irish government says "it is committed to seeking ratification" of the Lisbon Treaty by end of October next year.
An Irish government spokesman told the BBC that it was "seeking legally binding instruments to address the concerns of the Irish people", and that once it got those assurances, it would present "a roadmap for ratification", that would include another referendum.
The EU is set to offer guarantees that the treaty will not affect three main areas of concern to Irish "No" voters - abortion, Irish neutrality and taxation, says the BBC's Europe editor Mark Mardell.
Ireland is also likely to be able to keep its EU commissioner.
But Declan Ganley, the chairman of the Libertas group that led the No campaign in the first Irish referendum, said this was an example of the Irish being dictated to.
"Do we think that democracy is important in Europe or do we want to exist in some post-democratic environment where European affairs are concerned?" he said.
He also announced that his Libertas group would be standing on an anti-treaty platform across the EU during next year's parliamentary elections. (Continues)
SOURCE (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7776961.stm)