Perceived ‘No’ Arguments
“We Lose a commissioner – We Lose our Voice”
This is misleading. Not every member state will have a commissioner all the time. They will be rotated. The EU is growing all the time, and we just can’t have as many commissioners as there are states.
However, the commission is only one part of European decision making. The other parts are the Council, made up of all the European governments, and the Parliment, made up of MEPs. Officially, the Commissioners are supposed to be neutral anyway, not representing their country but making decisions for the greater good of Europe. Technically we don’t really have a voice here, we just nominate someone to the job who must set aside their nationality.
Furthermore, under Lisbon the Council will be given more power over the Commission. We will still have a permanent voice here. We will also have our MEPs in the parliament.
“Wages will go down”
This is just rubbish. There’s nothing in Lisbon about minimum wages. Minimum wage is a matter to be set by each member state. This does not change under Lisbon. It’s simple scare-mongering
“Abortion Will Become Legal”
Again, there’s nothing in Lisbon about this. The law in Ireland regarding the right to life is guaranteed unalterable by the Maastricht Treaty
Reasons to Vote YES
To Help the economy
A lot of people are cynical about this one, but the fact is that a Yes on Lisbon would increase the stability of Europe, and allow it to react better to crises such as the current global recession. A No on lisbon will leave Europe reeling, and at an impass, something we can’t afford right now.
To Strengthen Workers Rights
Lisbon strengthens workers rights, ensuring the right to paid maternity leave and to fair and just working conditions. It also protects against unfair dismissal.
To Help Fight Climate change
The Treaty of Lisbon adds explicit sentences stating that combating climate change and global warming are targets of the Union
Who’s For Lisbon?
Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, The Labour Party, The Green Party, The IFA, SIPTU, The Catholic Church. You might not trust some of those groups, but if Lisbon was really a bad thing don’t you think the opposition (Fine Gael, Labour) would be at the throats of the Government about it?
Who’s against it?
Sinn Fein, COIR. COIR are a front for the extreme anti-abortion group, Youth Defence. In both campaigns they’ve put up misleading posters making outrageous claims and reprinting out-of-context quotes as fact.
Withdrawing
Finally, if all the worst nightmares of the No campaign actually happen, we can leave the EU. Lisbon finally introduces the ability for a member state to legally leave the EU which has been impossible thus far. If we vote No, not only do we cripple the EU and make our country the most hated place in Europe, we also won’t be able to leave.