The Irish Vote on the EU

 Posted by on 16 June 2008 at 1:21 pm  Foreign Policy
Jun 162008
 

The voters of Ireland just rejected the latest European Union treaty. But apparently, they only have the right to vote if they vote they way the EU bureaucrats want:

…Ireland is constitutionally obliged to subject all EU treaties to a popular vote. The unexpectedly strong “no” result announced Friday effectively acts as a veto.

The EU’s political establishment is already calling on all other members to keep ratifying the treaty through their governments alone while calculating what it will take to make Ireland vote again, only this time “yes.”

…”We’re told we can vote no, that the system requires unanimity. But when (a ‘no’ vote) actually happens, every time, the EU tells us: You really only have a right to vote yes,” said Dublin travel agent Paul Brady, who voted against the treaty. “You know, I love traveling through Europe, but I don’t really want to live there all the time. I’d like to stay as close to America as Europe.”

(Via Transterrestrial Musings.)

   
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