Ireland Says “No” to Lisbon Treaty
Ireland has rejected the Lisbon Treaty, which would have consolidated the European Union’s power and streamlined its cumbersome bureaucracy. The treaty needed to be ratified by all 27 EU members.
The Lisbon Treaty was the result of painstaking negotiations. Among other things, it offered a way of adjusting to the 12 new members added since 2004. It allowed for a full-time EU president and provided for a new foreign policy chief. Also, it called for a change in voting procedures on the European Council so that fewer decisions would require unanimous votes.
Ireland is the only country to put the Lisbon Treaty to a referendum, as required by law. However, it’s no secret that people in various EU countries have no real sense of a European identity and feel remote from decisions being made in Brussels.
One instant effect of the Irish decision is that the euro fell to $1.5301 against the dollar.