Ireland and the Lisbon Treaty: Quo Vadis?. CEPS Policy Brief No. 176, October 2008

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on ratification and to provide policy-makers with an assessment of the options before them. Before proceeding to outline those options this paper sets out four key assumptions upon which the arguments made are based. It also outlines the importance of securing a clarification of the constitutional position via a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Lisbon Treaty and the desirability of finding EU agreement on the right of all 27 member states to permanent representation on the European Commission

Government and Parliament

This chapter of Foreign Policy in the Republic of Ireland examines the nature of executive-legislative relations and, more broadly, the policy-making process in the conduct of Irish foreign policy. Amongst other phenomena it analyzes the institutional actors that assert most influence within the foreign policy-making sphere; the nature and intensity of the interaction between the government and Oireachtas in external affairs, the level of engagement of members of the Oireachtas with foreign affairs, including EU affairs; and the opportunity structures for parliamentary scrutiny and oversight of executive action. It goes without saying that no foreign policy can be carried out successfully without being underpinned by an effective governmental machinery. But it is important to understand that the machinery includes not only the core ministries of government and the civil service which support decision-making, but crucially the legitimacy of decision-making will revolve around the ability, willingness and opportunities afforded to parliament to participate in and scrutinize decisions in the foreign affairs sphere

Ireland says No (again): the 12 June 2008 Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty

This article analyzes the significance of the 12 June 2008 Lisbon Treaty referendum in the Republic of Ireland. This was the third such referendum on Europe held in Ireland since the millennium, and the second referendum in three to result in a rejection of an EU Treaty following the failed Nice poll in 2001. Assessing both the campaign itself and the reasons for the No vote, the article argues that whilst variables such as age, educational attainment, geography, gender and social class all have a part to play in explaining the outcome of the referendum, post-referendum analysis suggests that two key phenomena proved decisive. First, an enduring Irish attachment to an overwhelmingly exclusivist national identity rather than more open and fluid identity conceptions, means that a space exists where issues such as neutrality, sovereignty and Ireland’s relative influence in the EU institutional matrix can be readily exploited by opponents of the European integration process, and where any changes in the EU constitutional order can be emotively presented as an existential threat to Ireland’s values and interests. Second, post-referendum analysis also suggests that lack of knowledge constituted a key reason for voting No. The absence of any effort by government to provide and promote sufficient information channels which explain how and why Ireland’s EU membership matters means that EU ‘debates’ within Irish political culture are frequently characterised by apathy, confusion, and ignorance, in a context where the chasm in elite-popular opinion has grown wider. The referendum result also points to a growing Eurosceptic tendency in Ireland which has seen the size of the No vote increase from 17 per cent in 1972 to a decisive majority of 53.4 per cent in 2008, on a significantly higher turnout than either 2001 or 2002

Serbia to choose EU orbit or isolation

Opinion articl

Reflecting on a second Irish Lisbon referendum

Opinion articl

Ireland’s plan to resurrect the Lisbon Treaty to be unveiled at the Brussels summit

Given the problems created by the failed Irish referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon for the European Union, it is a bittersweet irony that Ireland has been one of the member states hardest hit by the turmoil in global markets. The country’s fiscal position has severely degraded and the Government has been forced to introduce austerity measures not seen for a quarter of a century. Now, in advance of the European Council’s December summit, expectations are growing that the Irish Prime Minister (or Taoiseach) Brian Cowen will provide a clear roadmap for an Irish solution to the EU’s constitutional dilemma and enable the EU to resolve the impasse created by the Irish electorate’s rejection of the Treaty in June

Ireland’s European referendum: second take, high stake

The Irish people's second vote on the Lisbon treaty will have a decisive bearing on the European Union's constitutional future. The political misdirection of the "yes" side and the polemical vigour of the "no" put the result in the balance

EU offer would boost reform in Turkey

Opinion articl

EU-Déjà vu - Ireland's No to Lisbon

The Irish referendum on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, held on 12 June 2008, produced a negative outcome with the measure being rejected by the electorate by a margin of almost 54 per cent to 46 per cent. Thus for the second time in seven years Irish citizens declined to support a Treaty which their political elites overwhelmingly endorsed. The result plunged the European Union into yet another crisis, the latest following the rejection of the earlier Constitutional Treaty in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005. This article analyses the Irish referendum, the main actors and issues which influenced the campaign, and the reasons for the No vote. It argues that the two most significant phenomena which explain the result are the attachment of the Irish people to a particularistic conception of Irish identity combined with a lack of knowledge about both the EU decision-making system and the content of the Lisbon Treaty itself

Ireland and the European Union: Mapping Domestic Modes of Adaptation and Contestation

When Professor Joe Lee wrote his magisterial history of twentieth century Ireland in the late 1980s one of the most important issues he addressed was the apparent economic failure of the Republic of Ireland. The main reasons advanced for this failure included slow and erratic patterns of economic growth, low productivity in key economic sectors, high and persistent levels of unemployment, exceptionally high emigration rates and a preponderance of enduring social problems. That this remained the case after more than a decade of EU membership seemed to call into question the wisdom of the Irish decision in 1973 to join the then European Community (EEC). Two decades later Ireland’s membership of the EU was thrown into serious question by the Irish electorate’s rejection in June 2008 of the Lisbon Treaty. This was the third such referendum on Europe held in Ireland since the millennium and the second referendum in three to result in a rejection of an EU Treaty following the failed Nice poll in 2001 (O’Brennan, 2003, 2004). The debate on the Lisbon Treaty offers the opportunity to look back at and reflect on Ireland’s membership of the EU, to examine whether and to what extent membership has been good for Ireland, and the fundamental changes which European integration has wrought. And although the No to Lisbon was reversed in a second referendum held in October 2009, it remains the case that European integration is now seriously questioned in Ireland. This chapter examines the Irish experience of European integration. It assesses the impact of the EU on key aspects of Irish economic and political life and the different modes of adaptation and contestation which have characterised the Irish experience of membership