German professor: German court ruling shows why Ireland should vote No

At a press conference of Europeans organised yesterday by the Irish No campaign, Professor Dietrich Murswiek from the University of Freiburg said that the media had given the “completely wrong impression” of the ruling on the Lisbon Treaty by the German Constitutional Court. He said that the Court didn’t approve of the Treaty, because it damaged German democracy and sovereignty. The only way it could be passed, Murswick said, was if Germany adopted reforms which would “repair” the damage the Treaty did to national democracy. He said that since the Irish had not taken any similar measures, the Irish people should vote No to the Treaty on democracy grounds.

On a question from a journalist on whether it could really be correct that the entire Irish political establishment, including employer organisations and main political parties, are wrong about the Lisbon Treaty, Professor Murswiek said the German government said exactly the same thing about the Lisbon Treaty before it was challenged in the German Constitutional Court. However, he said, the Court ruling showed that the “German establishment got it wrong”.

The speakers also talked about the pan-European No campaign “Europe Says No - No to Lisbon, Yes to democracy”, established this month.

The Irish Independent reports on the press conference, and quotes Danish MEP Soren Sondergaard saying that he had to “think twice” about coming to Ireland to back the ‘No’ campaign, but that the “interference” by the EU Commission led to his decision to call on Irish voters to reject the Treaty.

sources Open Europe and Irish Independent