Anti-democratic EURO-trash at work again...
(Why is Dirty Bertie Ahern still around...? Wasn't he just convicted
of corruption?)
For educational purposes:
"Secret deal to persuade Ireland on EU treaty
By Gethin Chamberlain in Dublin
Last Updated: 11:56pm BST 19/04/2008
Leaked memos and French threat to Celtic Tiger economy could scupper
Brussels-Dublin manoeuvring over EU treaty
Bertie Ahern was fiddling self-consciously with the buttons on his
jacket when the gates of Dublin's Government Buildings swung open and
the motorcade swept into the Edwardian quadrangle.
Out leapt Jos=E9 Manuel Barroso, the president of the European
Commission, smiling broadly, striding confidently up the steps to
clasp the hand of the Irish Taoiseach.
Brothers in arms: Bertie Ahern and Jos=E9 Barroso
It was an important moment, a show of unity designed to convince
Irish voters that they have nothing to fear from the controversial
Lisbon Treaty when it is put to a referendum on June 12.
Yet even as the two men emerged from their private talks to insist
that Europe loved Ireland and Ireland loved what Europe had done for
it, a murky deal to keep voters sweet was threatening to scupper
their hopes.
Two leaked memos suggest that the Irish government and Brussels are
going to great lengths to suppress bad news that might encourage a
No vote - a result that would delight Eurosceptics everywhere, since
if Ireland does not ratify the treaty it cannot come into force
anywhere in Europe.
An internal email from a British diplomat in Dublin let slip that the
commission's vice-president, Margot Wallstr=F6m, had promised the
Irish government to "tone down or delay messages that might be
unhelpful".
The diplomat, Elizabeth Green, also said Ireland had decided to get
the vote out of the way before France took over the EU leadership in
July, to avoid "the risk of unhelpful developments during the French
presidency" - noting that President Nicolas Sarkozy was "completely
unpredictable".
advertisementThe second memo, from Jo Leinen, the German chairman of
the European Parliament's committee on constitutional affairs, warned
that "politically sensitive" aspects of the treaty should not be
discussed until it was in force.
Just how sensitive some issues can be became clear earlier this month
when Christine Lagarde, Mr Sarkozy's finance minister, said Paris
was "determined" to push for harmonised corporation taxes across
Europe.
Her words sent a shiver through Ireland, where a low corporation tax
- 12.5 per cent compared with 28 per cent in Britain - is one of the
main factors credited with attracting the international companies
that have helped create its "Celtic Tiger" economy.
Nowhere would the loss of that commercial advantage be felt more
keenly than in the small town of Leixlip, Co Kildare, 11 miles west
of Dublin.
Two technology giants, Hewlett-Packard and Intel, employ 6,000 in a
town of few more than 14,000, attracted in part by the favourable tax
regime. The No camp claims such companies would move away if the tax
breaks went.
Leixlip, a tidy town with no shortage of EU flags fluttering from the
buildings, is a testament to the benefits of EU membership. The
council notice board describes it as the "fastest-growing town in
Ireland".
But in her shop off the main street, Kathleen King, 65, a florist,
was fretting about the impact if the big companies left. "This town
would die," she said. "When I came here 35 years ago there was a chip
shop and a few offices. Now we have dentists, boutiques, flower shops
and better roads."
Intel, where her husband worked until he retired, had even paid for
the Christmas lights and had the canal cleared out. So she was
planning to vote no in the referendum: "We are praying that they
stay. We don't want the French dictating to us."
Mr Ahern and Mr Barroso are both adamant that Ireland would see off
the French proposal, but while neither Intel nor Hewlett-Packard
would be drawn into the debate, Wyeth, an American pharmaceutical
company employing 3,300 people in four Irish counties, said it would
have to consider its position if corporation tax rates changed.
Ireland is the only country holding a referendum on the treaty.
Britain has been denied a vote, although this faces a High Court
challenge on Tuesday by the businessman Stuart Wheeler.
With polls showing that most Irish are undecided, the No camp have
their tails up. Donal O'Sullivan-Latchford, of the EUReform group,
said voters were alarmed at the prospect of further interference
from Brussels.
The Irish government is determined to avoid having to call a second
vote, as it was forced to over the Nice Treaty in 2001, after losing
the first referendum.
Dick Roche, the minister for European Affairs, told The Sunday
Telegraph that the critics' fears would be proved groundless. And he
warned that this time there would be no second chance: "If this goes
wrong, the treaty is gone, because there is no plan B. The time is
not there to get it renegotiated."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=3D/n
ews/2008/04/20/
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