A PERCEIVED link between Ireland’s economic prospects and a Yes vote on the Lisbon Treaty was a major factor in the second referendum, according to research commissioned by the Government.
Speaking at Dublin’s Institute of International and European Affairs yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said preliminary research also suggested that legal guarantees secured by the Government after the initial rejection of the treaty, and the agreement to allow all member states retain a commissioner were significant factors in the second vote.
“The two-to-one outcome in favour . . . has certainly been a help in underlining our fundamental commitment to the union and removing any question marks which the first vote may have occasioned,” Mr Martin said.
Discussing the impact of the economic crisis, Mr Martin said the EU’s “co-ordinated and concrete” response had been “a welcome reminder” of the strength that membership provides.
“What is important for the EU, and Ireland, is to be positioned to participate in and draw full benefit from the recovery when it comes,” he said.
“We have taken measures domestically to repair the banking system and restore sustainability to the public finances. Improving competitiveness is crucial to our exporting performance and through that to employment creation.”
Mr Martin also surveyed some of the institutional changes that have taken place since the treaty entered into force last December.
Ireland wishes to see the treaty “fully and faithfully” implemented, he said, describing the State’s approach to implementation as one of “balance between efficiency and coherence on the one hand and ensuring, on the other, that the decision-making process facilitates and takes account of input by all; balance between large and small member states; and a balanced approach to staffing bodies so that a common sense of ownership is fostered.”
The new institutional landscape and the greater use of majority voting “underline that building alliances will be more important than ever,” he said. “We need to play here to our strengths.”
The European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s new diplomatic network, may well turn out to be “one of the most significant innovations” of the treaty, Mr Martin said.
The Minister said Ireland had a “strong interest” in making the EU’s new external relations arrangements work well.
“We know that our voice on world affairs carries better and reaches a wider audience through being combined with those of our partners.
“Whether in terms of GDP, trade, investment or aid the EU is at the top of world rankings. The full potential and leverage of this needs to be drawn out,” he said.
“Never has it been more important that Europe speak with one voice in global affairs; and there is a real need for united and decisive European action.”
In what was titled a “State of the Union” address, Mr Martin also discussed Ireland’s taking on of the council presidency in the first half of 2013, working with Lithuania and Greece who come after.