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Sarkozy and Merkel want Lisbon ratification to continue
Jun 13, 2008, 16:20 GMT
Paris - Reacting jointly to the Irish rejection of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday they hoped that the treaty ratification process would continue.
'The Lisbon Treaty has been signed by the heads of state and government of 27 member states and the ratification process has been completed in 18 countries. We therefore hope that the other member states will pursue the ratification process,' the two leaders said in a statement.
'We are convinced that the reforms contained in the Lisbon Treaty are necessary to make Europe more democratic and more efficient and that they will enable (Europe) to respond to the challenges confronting its citizens,' the joint statement read.
The rejection of the Lisbon Treaty is a particularly hard blow for Sarkozy, who was instrumental in drafting it after the French rejected an EU constitution in a referendum.
In addition, France assumes the rotating EU presidency on July 1 and will have to deal with the fallout of the Irish vote.
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Tom RyanJun 14th, 2008 - 19:05:46
I voted no to the Lisbon Treaty and I am proud of my decision. I was voting for the disenfranchised peoples of Europe who were not trusted and therefore not allowed by their Governments to exercise their democratic right. We were the only people with the right to vote. If we voted “Yes” we would have forfeited this right for the future. Our constitution would have been compromised. Our democratic right to vote on constitutional matters in relation to Europe would have been gone for good. We would have handed this sovereignty to unaccountable Eurocrats.
Brussels said that “if one country said “NO” then the Lisbon treaty falls.” They are now saying otherwise. What part of “NO” do they and President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel not understand? This kind of arrogance and total disregard for democracy as well as their own laws sums up why it was so right to vote “NO”.
Having the right to vote in this referendum was a great democratic privilege that only the Irish People had and which they will never cede to faceless unelected and unaccountable overpaid Eurocrats. My vote was not just on my own behalf but proportionally on behalf of the 500,000000 people of Europe who were disenfranchised in total disregard to their democratic right to vote by their cowardly Governments. My vote - under these circumstances - was the equivalent of voting 1,250000 times on both my behalf and on behalf of all the people of Europe who were not allowed to vote. This was one of the most powerful moments of my life. Is Ireland the last bastion of people power and democracy in Europe?
Tom Ryan
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