Barrosso sticks his oar in

LostinBlanch

Vote yes or else

IRELAND and Europe will "pay a price" if there is a 'No' vote in the Lisbon Treaty referendum, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned voters last night.

Putting the gun to Irish heads ahead of the referendum in just over a fortnight, Mr Barroso said rejection of the EU Reform Treaty would be bad for the whole of Europe, including Ireland.

His comments could be used by the 'No' campaign to show that Europe is trying to coerce Ireland into voting 'Yes'.

They will cause a further headache for the 'Yes' campaign, which is already watching its lead narrowing while also trying to fight public confusion on the treaty's details.

Ireland is the only one of the 27 EU members States to hold a referendum on the Treaty.

But Mr Barroso said there is "no Plan B" if the referendum on June 12 is not carried by the Irish voters.

He said the European Union could be stuck with an unresolved problem of institutional reform for years if the Irish public rejects the treaty.

"If there was a 'No' in Ireland or in another country, it would have a very negative effect for the EU," he said.

"We will all pay a price for it, Ireland included, if this is not done in a proper way," he warned.

Mr Barroso delivered his remarks at the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels last night. Pro-Lisbon campaigners argue the Treaty will make an enlarged EU work more effectively, give the enlarged union stronger leadership, a more democratic decision-making system and a more effective foreign policy apparatus.

The Treaty replaced the defunct EU constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

The latest opinion poll shows 'Yes' vote at 41pc, down three points, and the 'No' vote at 33pc, up five. The Red C poll for the Sunday Business Post showed the don't knows down eight points to 26pc.

Mr Barroso's intervention came on the same day as the Government expressed its concerns over the European Commission's handling of the highly contentious World Trade Organisation talks.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin said the EU's concessions on agriculture at world trade talks remain "unacceptable" to Ireland.

Mr Martin said Ireland still had "very serious concerns" about the latest negotiating position set out at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Briefed about the proposals by the Commissioner at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, Mr Martin said the proposals were "unbalanced and unacceptable" and posed a serious risk to Irish and European agriculture.

He said the latest offer from Mr Mandelson -- tabled on behalf of the EU Commission at the Geneva negotiations last week -- was even less acceptable than previous suggested concessions that farming organisations denounced as an outrage and a sell-out.

The WTO talks are a major stumbling block to the Government's hopes of passing the referendum.

Farmers have linked the WTO outcome to their vote on the EU Reform Treaty, even though Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said it is "foolish" to link the two issues.

The Irish Farmers' Association is effectively threatening to vote 'No' if they are not happy with the expected outcome of the WTO negotiations.

Mr Cowen denied yesterday that the referendum was now too close to call.

He said opinion polls were just snapshots at any given time, and the fact remained that it was very much in Ireland's national interest to vote Yes to Lisbon.

"We're only halfway through this campaign, and I'm betting a very positive message on the ground," he said.

Mr Cowen said he believed the Irish people were of a pro-European outlook.

- Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor

29 comments from readers and 27 of them negative. I'd say Yes campaigners must have their head in their hands at such cack handed interventions.

mike65

Big mistake, vested interests on the outside speaking out will never go down well.

Still, he said it earlier enough to have it forgotten by voting day I suspect.

Mike.

LostinBlanch

Unless he (or others) will not be able to resist telling us what to do.

And don't think the No camp won't use this. I don't think it's going to go away that easily.

sink

He is right but it's unfortunate he spoke out. The no camp are garaunteed to spin this to make it sound like Europe will punish us if we vote no.

djpbarry

sink wrote: »

The no camp are garaunteed to spin this to make it sound like Europe will punish us if we vote no.

I would say there's a fair bit of spin in the article itself:

Indo wrote:

Putting the gun to Irish heads ahead of the referendum in just over a fortnight, Mr Barroso said rejection of the EU Reform Treaty would be bad for the whole of Europe, including Ireland.

I think that's taking it to extremes when all he said was:

Jose Manuel Barroso wrote:

If there was a 'No' in Ireland or in another country, it would have a very negative effect for the EU

I don't see anything particularly wrong with that statement. I can't help but feel that the Indo is becoming decidedly right-wing these days.

LostinBlanch wrote: »

29 comments from readers and 27 of them negative.

Means very little - the comments are screened, remember?

ixtlan

What he said does not sound that unreasonable.

After all, is it expected for EU politicians to completely ignore the Irish referendum and the difficulties of Lisbon not passing?

One can try to twist the meaning of what he said, but I would interpret it as just saying that the issues the EU has now, which led to the changes Lisbon was to make, will continue if Lisbon does not pass. This will be bad for the effectiveness of the EU and since Ireland is a part of the EU, it will be bad for us.

He is NOT saying that we will be targeted by other nations. However you can imagine that if we are the blocking point for several years of political negotiations there may be some ill-feeling. He is NOT saying this though so it's unfair for attribute this to him.

Ix.

Our man in Havana

What is this "or else" that Barrosso is threatening?

turgon

I would imagine keeping the EU stagnant for years. But of course he wouldn't realize it was their own faults for proposing unwanted measures. Ireland would be a convenient scapegoat. I would imagine that the Big Boys in Europe have large egos and would be incapable of admitting their own faults.

djpbarry

turgon wrote: »

I would imagine keeping the EU stagnant for years. But of course he wouldn't realize it was their own faults for proposing unwanted measures. Ireland would be a convenient scapegoat.

Actually, considering the leading role Ireland had in drafting the document, it would seem rather strange (from the EU's perspective) if we were to reject it.

mike65

Not really, a bunch of civil servants and a few politicans were involved not the public.

Mike.

Our man in Havana

a few politicans

Even they have not read the full treaty.

Polling card arrived today...yay!