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31 May 08 - EN Protests at Irish embassies over lack of vote for 487m Europeans
Protests are being held outside Irish embassies this weekend congratulating Ireland on holding a referendum denied to 487 million Europeans. The European Referendum Campaign has organised protests outside embassies in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Sofia, London, Vienna and Berlin, ...Read more...
The Irish Independent
Protests at 40 Irish embassies over lack of vote for 487m Europeans
By Aine Kerr
Saturday May 31 2008
Protests are being held outside 40 Irish embassies this weekend congratulating Ireland on holding a referendum denied to 487 million Europeans.
The European Referendum Campaign has organised protests outside embassies in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Sofia, London, Vienna and Berlin, in addition to 32 other cities.
Protesters' placards include messages such as "Congratulations Ireland! You are having the referendum 487 million Europeans have been denied", and "On 12th June, we are all Irish".
Yesterday, co-ordinator of the campaign, Thomas Rupp, insisted the protests were designed to invite Irish people to consider the wider implications for Europeans who will not be voting.
"These events shall relieve the pressure from the Irish people who are being told that other EU member states would urge them to say 'Yes' to the treaty," he said.
"In fact 75pc of Europeans want to have a say on Lisbon and there are many concerns about its content, shared by many Europeans.
"The ratification of such a far-reaching document without asking the people will decrease the democratic legitimacy of the EU even further."
Yesterday, at a conference in Dublin, Mr Rupp further claimed the treaty document had been "deliberately made unreadable".
"If this treaty is ratified as planned by European elites and if we, the citizens, let them get away with it, we cannot complain, if, in a few years time something is sold to us under the label of democracy, but has nothing to do with the rule of the people," he said.
The Irish Examiner
Democracy campaigners to make their point at Irish embassies
Dublin, 31 May 2008
CAMPAIGNERS arguing for greater democracy in Europe are making their views known outside Irish embassies in various EU capitals this weekend. The European Referendum Campaign (ERC), an umbrella group for NGOs and campaigners from different member states, is holding events outside the embassies “to congratulate the Irish for holding a referendum denied to 487 million Europeans”.
Their argument is that the Lisbon Treaty should have been put to a referendum in every member state.
But after the experience with the EU Constitution in 2005, which was scrapped after being rejected by voters in France and Holland, almost all member states have decided against holding a referendum on Lisbon. Instead, they are passing the treaty via their national parliaments. Only Ireland is holding a referendum, and the ERC is hoping Irish voters will reject the treaty. “These events shall relieve the pressure from Irish people who are being told that other EU member states would urge them to say yes to the treaty,” said ERC coordinator Thomas Rupp.
“In fact, 75% of Europeans want to have a say on Lisbon and there are many concerns about its content, shared by many Europeans. “The ratification of such a far-reaching document without asking the people will decrease the democratic legitimacy of the EU even further. You cannot build Europe without the consent of its citizens.” Mr Rupp, who was joined at the press conference by former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna, who opposes the treaty, said the ERC was “deeply concerned” at the manner in which the rejected EU Constitution was “re-labelled” as the Lisbon treaty. “If this treaty is ratified as planned by European elites and if we, the citizens, let them get away with it, we cannot complain if, in a few years’ time, something is sold to us under the label of democracy but has nothing to do with the rule of the people.”
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