Irish arguments against the Lisbon Treaty

by Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider
Erlangen-Nürnberg, 21th September 2009

Short version (Original text available on www.bioniere.org)

For all these reasons one has to reject the Treaty of Lisbon:

1. Repetition of the referendum on the same treaty in Ireland, even that the French and Dutch People have also said no to the 1st version of this constitutions Treaty plus the Irish NO in 2008 (statement of the editor: This is hardly democratic).

2. Concessions to Ireland are concessions only and do not change the Treaty (editor: so why another referendum when the Irish people already said a clear NO?).

3. The national constitutions are to remain – but the laws of the Union will have priority in application. The Irish people are being deceived if something else is pretended.

4. The Treaty clearly rules in article 311 paragraph 3 sentence 2 (TFEU) that the EU Council may decide unanimously on “new categories of EU financing”. This means NEW taxes in the first place.

5. With this decision of individual defence sovereignty (which by membership in the NATO is nearly abolished anyway) and defence capability of the member states taking part are completely ended, as is an essential part of their existential statehood. Ireland may in fact refuse common defence, but is then incapable of military defence, also against the military united member states of the Union. This aspect of sovereignty must not be ignored for the future.

6. Existential Loss of State: By means of the Lisbon Treaty the political situation in all member states will be turned over, mainly because the individual/formerly independent states become only member states in the Union state, the European Federal State.

7. The existential state tasks and competences will be (much more than now already according to the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty on the European Community) dictated by this Union State.

8. European Union as Federal State without Legitimation, no independent democratic legitimation of the Union.

9. State quality and statehood of the Union: The Treaty of Lisbon, however, largely denationalizes Ireland as well as the other member states and thus is incompatible with the constitution of humaneness of man.
   The Irish people cannot approve of such a treaty as long as they are a People.

10. European Union as a genuine federal state: Already today, and even more so after the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Union is a genuine federal state, genuine, because it collectively exercises sovereign rights which were transferred to it by the member states due to a treaty among them.

11. Neoliberal economic and monetary union: The economic and monetary union has already, and definitely after the Treaty of Lisbon (Art. 3 paragraph 4 TEU, Art. 119 ff. TFEU), handed over to the Union all economic and monetary sovereignty, without which the Member States are unable to fullfill their existential tasks, particularly not the social tasks.
    Thereafter the countries cannot protect their national resources, their social security systems or any kind of local values added.

12. Legal authority of the Court of the European Union: The EU-Court has usurped the power of a supreme constitutional court. Ireland’s constitutional changes with integration policy in mind have accepted this application precedence without barriers.
    The EU-Court of Justice manages entirely without democratic legitimation for its judicature on constitution and fundamental rights.

13. Debilitation of fundamental rights protection: Protection of fundamental rights is existential for a constitutional state, which is obliged to be democratic. However, as a result of European integration, fundamental rights protection has wandered into inappropriate, namely not democratically legitimated hands, as the practice of the European Court of Justice for half a century has evidenced.

14. Enablement of the death penalty and of killing during “uprising” or “riot”: Contrary to the abolition of the death penalty demanded by the principle of human dignity (Art. 102 German Constitution), the Charter of Fundamental Rights enables the re-introduction of the death penalty in the event of war or in the event of imminent threat of war, but also the killing of people in order to suppress an uprising or a riot.
    The territorial sovereignty of the Member States is dwindling increasingly.

15. No fundamental rights appeal: A fundamental rights appeal, such as the constitution appeal according to the German Constitution (Art. 93 paragraph 1 no. 4a German Constitution) which is indispensable to a constitutional state, is unknown to the EU-Charter of Fundamental Rights.

16. Minimum regulations for crimes and penalties: A European Public Prosecutor’s Office can be set up to combat certain crimes to the disadvantage of the financial interests of the Union (Art. 86 TFEU). The European Public Prosecutor’s Office can even perform the tasks of the public prosecutor’s office before the courts of the Member States. These authorisations have a deep impact on the existential penal sovereignty of the Member States.

17. General authorisations of the European Union: Extensive competence are to be conferred to the Union (Art. 48 paragraph 6 TEU, Art. 311 paragraph 3 and Art. 352 TFEU).

18. Flexibility clause: The flexibility clause of Art. 352 TFEU enables the Council to adopt appropriate regulations unanimously at the proposal of the Commission after approval by the European Parliament for the realisation of the exceedingly broadly aimed objectives of the Union according to Art. 3 TEU, even if the treaties do not provide for the necessary powers.

19. General financial policy clause: The constitution treaty empowers the Union in a general financial policy clause, (Art. 311 paragraph 1 TFEU), to “provide itself with the means necessary to attain its objectives and carry through its policies”.

20. Simplified Proceedings for the Alteration of the Treaty: With the Simplified Proceedings for the Alteration of the Treaty the EU Council (the heads of state or government together with the president of the EU Council and the president of the EU Commission, Art. 15 Par. 2 TEU) is able to change “all or a part of the regulations of the Third Part of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union” on “the internal policy areas of the Union” by unanimous resolution (Art. 48 Par. 6 Subpar. 2 TEU).

21. Devaluated principle of subsidiarity As far as the area of exclusive Union competence is concerned, the application of the principle of subsidiarity is already explicitly excluded by the Treaty (Art. 5 Par. 3 TEU). It is not obvious that the European Union has any competence for a policy that in particular Ireland could not “sufficiently realise” on its own, mostly even better, at least democratically much more legitimised.

The peoples of Europe put all their hope in the Irish People saying NO to the injustice of the Lisbon Treaty, on behalf of all people in the Union. Otherwise, may GOD be with us.