Irish voters were warned on Monday that the rest of the European Union would look at them with “gigantic incomprehension” if they rejected the bloc’s Lisbon reform treaty in Thursday’s referendum.| No! Not Gigantic Incomprehension! |
| "Jean-Louis!" "Yes, M. le Foreign Minister!" "Increase their interest rate!" "Yes, M. le Foreign Minister!" |
| "Faith! And yez wouldn't be lecturin' us on how to vote now, would yez?" "Well, I..." "Pat! Break his kneecap!" |
| "We're sure they're gonna vote the right way," he said. "And we're sure their interest rates aren't going to change!" |
| "Jean-Louis!" "Yes, M. le Foreign Minister!" "Get out the Irish vote!" |
| "I just can't decide, Mike!" "Well, have another drink! That always helps me!" |
| A No would batter the self-confidence of EuropeÂ’s political elites and raise questions in the rest of the world about EuropeÂ’s ability to manage its affairs coherently and project power around the globe. |
Nerves are becoming strained in Paris because a No vote would transform France’s forthcoming EU presidency – from July 1 to December 31 – into a “crisis presidency” whose main task would be to salvage the Lisbon treaty. A No would batter the self-confidence of Europe’s political elites and raise questions in the rest of the world about Europe’s ability to manage its affairs coherently and project power around the globe.
Diplomats say that, if the Irish reject the treaty, France would insist that the ratification process must continue in other countries, especially the UK. But the risk is that an Irish No would put immense pressure on Gordon Brown, the politically weakened prime minister, to hold a referendum in the UK – which would probably produce a No result – or to declare the Lisbon treaty finished. An Irish rejection would also complicate ratification in the Czech Republic, where parliamentarians have sent the treaty to the constitutional court for scrutiny.
The treaty is the fruit of a decade-long effort to reshape EU institutions after the collapse of communism in eastern Europe and the incorporation of 12 member states between 2004 and 2007. It replaces a constitutional treaty rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, but it contains 80 to 90 per cent of the changes included in the first document.
Mr Barroso says the EU “has no plan B” if the Irish vote No but in truth the Lisbon treaty is already a kind of plan B. However, Charlie McCreevy, the EU’s Irish commissioner for the internal market, quips that it would be more accurate to say “there is no plan C”.