After lengthy political and organizational preparation, the European Union managed to influence the stubborn Irish: on October 2, 67.1% supported the Lisbon Treaty
Dublin agreed to a second referendum only after EU leaders guaranteed in June of this year that the entry into force of the treaty would not affect a number of key provisions of the country's domestic and foreign policy – the ban on abortions, preferential tax regime, and military neutrality. The people expressed themselves “clearly and convincingly,” emphasized Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen. “Ireland’s ‘yes’ echoed throughout Europe,” joyfully declared European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister of Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, regards the results of the plebiscite as an “important victory” for supporters of European integration.
In Moscow, they hope that “the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty will give additional impetus to the development of the Russia–EU strategic partnership,” stated official Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko. The Foreign Ministry believes that “the completion of the treaty's ratification process will positively affect negotiations on a new basic agreement between Russia and the EU, within which, among other things, issues of fine-tuning our cooperation mechanisms are discussed,” the diplomat stressed.
The decisive role in changing the Irish mood was played by the global crisis, Olaf Osica, an expert at the Polish Center for European Studies in Natolin, told Vremya Novostei: “The Irish did not so much say ‘yes’ to the persuasion of the European Commission as ‘no’ to unemployment.” In the opinion of the publication's interlocutor, the crisis “steamrolled over Ireland,” which had previously shown impressive economic growth rates. The unemployment rate in August was 12.2% – the highest in 14 years. The country's external debt soared. Brussels came to Dublin's aid urgently – the European Central Bank provided Irish banks with an emergency aid package of €54 billion. Barroso visited Ireland before the referendum and announced the EU's decision to allocate €15 million for retraining temporarily laid-off workers at Irish plants of the transnational computer corporation Dell.
The Lisbon Treaty will only enter into force after all 27 EU member states approve it. The ratification process still needs to be completed in Poland and the Czech Republic, where the document has not yet been signed by Presidents Lech Kaczyński and Václav Klaus. Olaf Osica noted to Vremya Novostei that the Polish president is “prone to unpredictable gestures,” while his Czech counterpart has a reputation as a Euroskeptic and has repeatedly openly criticized the treaty as “an attempt to build a superstate in Europe at the expense of national sovereignty.” Moreover, Václav Klaus recently received unexpected support from 17 Czech senators – they filed a protest against the treaty with the Constitutional Court, thereby giving the president an opportunity to postpone ratification. The complaint points to the “incompatibility of the treaty with Czech sovereignty,” and court proceedings could take several months. In the coming days, a meeting of EU leadership with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer will take place in Brussels. Experts believe that European leaders will try to hurry Prague into a positive decision.
The Lisbon Treaty, signed by EU leaders in the Portuguese capital in December 2007, provides for a number of important internal reforms of the European Union. Among them are the introduction of the posts of EU President and Foreign Minister, expansion of the European Parliament's powers, including voting rights in drafting the annual EU budget of about €120 billion. The document also enshrines the right of each member state to unilaterally withdraw from the European Union.