Lisbon Treaty "is alive", Barroso says after Irish no (Roundup)

Jun 13, 2008, 17:08 GMT

Brussels - The remaining European Union member states should go ahead and ratify the Lisbon Treaty, in spite of its rejection by voters in Ireland, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Friday.

'I believe the treaty is alive and we should now try to find a solution,' Barroso told a packed press conference in Brussels.

To date, the national parliaments of 18 of the EU's 27 member states have ratified the text, which is designed to simplify decision-making in an expanded bloc that now hosts 500 million citizens.

According to final results, 53.4 per cent of Ireland's eligible voters cast their ballots against the treaty, while 46.6 per cent voted in favour of it. Turnout was a higher-than-expected 53 per cent.

The Irish vote is set to usher in a period of deep uncertainty in Brussels, with officials insisting prior to the vote that there was 'no plan B.'

Seeking to salvage a text that was negotiated after three years of intense wrangling among national governments, Barroso said the Irish vote should not stop it being ratified in the remaining eight national parliaments.

'Clearly, the European Commission would have hoped for another result,' Barroso said, but 'the no vote in Ireland has not solved the problems which the Lisbon Treaty is designed to solve.

'The European Commission believes that remaining ratifications should continue to take their course,' he added.

The bloc's presidency, Slovenia, called on Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen to explain his country's rejection, increasing the pressure on the already-beleaguered Taoiseach, or premier.

EU heads of state and government are set to meet for their regular summer summit in Brussels on Thursday, and on that day 'I will invite the Irish Prime Minister to explain the reasons for the rejection of the treaty by the Irish people,' Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said.

'We will discuss the situation and look for ways to move forward,' he added.

The British government, which has defied calls for a similar referendum to be held, indicated that it would continue to push the treaty's ratification through parliament.

Amid the uncertainty resulting from the Irish vote, one hypothesis circulating in Brussels was for the creation of a 'two-speed Europe', whereby only those member states who wished to do so would go ahead and forge closer ties between them.

But Charlie McCreevy, an Irish commissioner who famously said that 'no sane or sensible person' would read the treaty, insisted Friday that his compatriots had not voted against the European Union.

'I have no doubt that the vast majority of Irish people want to be fully engaged participants in the European Union. This vote is not a vote against the European Union. It is about a myriad of other issues,' McCreevy said.

Meanwhile, a feeling of gloom descended among EU officials, many of whom had decided to follow the vote count on a giant screen at Kitty O'Shea's Irish pub, a popular hang-out next to the commission's headquarters.

'I am very disappointed, especially when you consider all that the EU has done for Ireland,' its publican said.

'I think the Irish government should have done more to put its message across,' he added.

Another group of disappointed people were European lawmakers, since one of the provisions of the treaty is to increase the power of the European Parliament.

'The Irish 'no' to the Lisbon Treaty is very unfortunate. Nevertheless, it continues to remain in the best interest of the EU member states and their citizens that the treaty comes into effect,' said Elmar Brok, a German conservative MEP who had participated in the negotiations over the text.