Yes to Lisbon Treaty
Irish voters gave a second chance to the Lisbon Treaty by endorsing it with 67 % of Irish votes.

Irish economy, the Celtic tiger or the Celtic Kitty
In 2008 the Irish people rejected this treaty, back then the Irish economy was still flourishing (GDP growth averaged 6% in 1995-2007). Now like many other economies and due mainly to the economical crisis, the Irish economy is in a recession if not depression (-3% in 2008 est) and Ireland now has the second-highest level of household debt in the world, at 190% of household income.

Irish Voters Scammed
Many were convinced and succeeded to convince the public that if Lisbon treaty would be approved then the E.U will get an energy pill, and the investments and E.U help and programs will revitalize the Irish market.

But the help and the investments that came with the European Union will no longer come, back then the country was a good opportunity to invest while now it became like any other over developed market where investing is full of risks.

With the actual crisis why would investors want to invest in a market that could crumble at any moment.

The E.U help back in the 90's was to help develop Ireland, but now Ireland is well developed, so expecting to get the money flow again would be unrealistic.

European Union Superpower

Army
Defence
The treaty foresees that the European Security and Defence Policy will lead to a common defence agreement for the EU if and when the European Council (national leaders) resolves unanimously to do so and provided that all member states give their approval through their usual constitutional procedures.

President of Europe
President of the European Council
If ratified the new President of the European Council would be elected for a two and a half year term. The election would take place by a qualified majority among the members of the body, and the President can be removed by the same procedure. Unlike the President of the European Commission, there is no required approval from the European Parliament

Common Foreign Policy
Foreign High Representative
The Treaty would merge the post of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (currently held by Javier Solana) with the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy (currently held by Benita Ferrero-Waldner), creating a 'High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy' in an effort to reduce the number of Commissioners, and coordinate the Union's foreign policy with greater consistency. The new High Representative would also become a Vice-President of the Commission, the administrator of the European Defence Agency and the Secretary-General of the Council. He or she would also get an External Action Service and a right to propose defence or security missions. The Constitution called this post the 'Union Foreign Minister'.


Lisbon Treaty what was it made for
Negotiations to modify EU institutions began in 2001, resulting first in the European Constitution, which failed (2005) due to rejection by French and Dutch voters.
It was replaced by the Lisbon Treaty,that was originally intended to have been ratified by all member states by the end of 2008, so it could come into force before the 2009 European elections.

However, the rejection of the Treaty in 2008 by Irish voters, a legal challenge in Germany, and the refusal of the Czech and Polish Presidents to ratify the treaty meant that this date could not be met.

Most of the institutional innovations that were agreed upon in the European Constitution, are kept in the Treaty of Lisbon. The most prominent difference is arguably that the Treaty of Lisbon amends existing EU treaties, rather than re-founding the EU by replacing old texts with a single document with the status of a constitution.

Submitted by Lea

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Posted on 03 Oct 2009 by SubmitedArticles