SINN FÉIN:EUROPEAN COMMISSIONERS should be elected by national parliaments, which should also be allowed to sack them, Sinn Féin has proposed in a list of demands it wants in a new EU treaty.
Ireland must be able to hold on to its commissioner, despite the Nice Treaty decision that the commission's numbers should fall next year, while the commission should be accountable to the EU Council. Ireland must be able to veto EU foreign policy and defence actions; opt out of paying for actions; and be free to join UN missions.
Sinn Féin also demanded that EU leaders should not have the right to change treaties by qualified majority voting rather than unanimity, which Lisbon allowed for, subject to each state subsequently ratifying such changes.
National parliaments should get four months, not two, to inspect all EU legislation in advance, while it should be made easier for them to object. The commission should be legally obliged to respond, it said.
Ireland should secure a protocol protecting its neutrality, while a new treaty should "explicitly recognise" the presence in the EU of neutral and non-aligned states.
"It was our contention that a better deal could be produced. That was our position then and it remains our position," said Sinn Féin Dublin MEP, Mary Lou McDonald. Ireland can veto a cut in the commission's numbers next year, SF insisted, although the Nice Treaty limits the veto to decisions on the numbers of commissioners to be chosen below 27.
EU military forces should not be allowed to offer "military advice and assistance", as was proposed under Lisbon. Instead, the EU military should only be used in crisis management, peacemaking and post-conflict stabilisation and comply with international law.
Irish tax rules should be "respected", Ms McDonald said. Member states must get guarantees to protect "public services" from privatisation - and the Government should win a guarantee to block WTO deals, she added.
