THE PRESIDENT of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, who is due to visit Dublin today, has warned that a No vote in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty would undermine Irish influence in Europe.
“For Ireland it would be more difficult than it was until now to argue and to achieve some results, which are very important for the Irish people,” said Mr Buzek, who is a former Polish prime minister and the first national from one of the new member states in central Europe to be elected to a top EU job.
He said the consequences for Ireland of a No vote could be somewhat similar to that of Poland when it elected a nationalist government headed by former prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski in 2006.
"Nobody was saying Poland should leave the EU, but I must tell you honestly it was more difficult to start a discussion and to argue," he told The Irish Timesin an interview.
Mr Buzek said his visit to Ireland was not planned to interfere in the referendum campaign but rather to answer questions posed by young people and journalists. He will meet students, visit the headquarters Special Olympics Europe and hold discussions with Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche. “I am not entering the campaign on any side. Irish people must decide for themselves. But answering questions is different,” said Mr Buzek, who plans to tell people not to use their vote to simply punish the Government.
He rejected claims by some No campaigners, such as Cóir, that the treaty could change Irish domestic law on abortion or euthanasia by making the charter of fundamental rights legally binding.
“It is impossible. In Malta abortion is also absolutely outlawed and Malta ratified the Lisbon Treaty without any objection. So it is certainly not the case that the treaty can influence it,” said Mr Buzek, who downplayed the significance of the “opt out” that Poland has negotiated from the charter.
“Today’s Polish government has no objections to the charter . . . the Solidarity trade union, which I was very much engaged with, is also strongly supporting the charter and it is closely connected with Christian values. Pope John Paul strongly supported Solidarity when it started,” he said.
Mr Buzek said he supported the treaty because it would create a more efficient and integrated Europe to tackle issues such as climate change and energy security. He said it would bring Europe closer to its citizens by giving national parliaments a greater say over EU initiatives and boosting the role played by the European Parliament.
Mr Buzek is a member of the ruling Civic Platform party in Poland, which famously coined the phrase “Nice or death” to oppose the changes proposed to the current EU voting system as set out in the Nice treaty. He said this opposition to the new voting system was caused by party politics in Poland and he did not think Lisbon would undermine the voting power of small countries.
He said the experience of communism in Poland made people enthusiastic about EU integration because it made them feel more secure. “Not having experienced communism means there may not be as big energy for Irish people to go ahead with closer integration,” said Mr Buzek, who added that he was aware of the recent poll showing a decline in support for the treaty.