Ahern accuses 'alarmist' treaty opponents of misleading voters

Opponents of the European Union reform treaty are offering "misleading and incorrect arguments" in their efforts to defeat it in this year's referendum, the Taoiseach has said.

Making it clear that a referendum will be held before the summer, Bertie Ahern questioned "the motives behind such alarmist and dramatic rhetoric" during a speech to the National Forum on Europe.

The Taoiseach repeatedly attacked the No camp, saying some were trying to argue that they are in favour of Europe, that "they always have been, but that they are against just this particular treaty".

In reality, he said, such critics have been long-term opponents of European integration, who believe that Ireland should never have joined 35 years ago, and want Ireland to leave now.

"If that is what they believe, fine. If that is what they believe then I think that they are insane, but they should say what they believe," he told the forum in an unusually impassioned speech.

The treaty, signed in Lisbon in December, is "fundamentally" about modernising the EU's institutions so that they can work better for EU citizens, though Mr Ahern said "it is not a revolutionary document".

"It contains no great innovation of the stature of the single market that was introduced by the Single European Act, or the euro provided by the Maastricht Treaty. The absence of such a major feature might well hinder efforts to convince the public of the treaty's merits," said Mr Ahern, who called for a "fair, accurate and balanced" debate.

Despite this call, Mr Ahern went on: "Even at this early stage of our national debate, I have heard many misleading and incorrect arguments about the treaty, from the creation of a sprawling European super-state and the end of democracy as we know it, to the certain loss of Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality. I sometimes hear the argument that the treaty will mean a loss of Ireland's voice in Europe, and the creation of an uncontrollable EU super-state. This is simply not true, and I would have no part in such a development," he told the forum.

Some argue that Irish voters should vote No because no other country is having a referendum. "I can think of no more perverse way to exercise a democratic franchise," he said. Voters should decide solely on "how they perceive it to be of benefit to Ireland".

The Government had "certainly had Ireland's best interests in mind" during the negotiations.

The Government had fully backed the inclusion of the Charter for Fundamental Rights in the treaty, but adopted a more cautious attitude to greater judicial co-operation, for example.

"These negotiations demonstrate the capacity of the European Union to simultaneously forge consensus while taking account of particular national sensitivities," he said. He rejected charges that the post of president of the European Council, who will be appointed for 2½ years to chair leaders' meetings, will morph into a president of Europe.

The reduction in the size of the commission will mean that Ireland will be treated "in exactly the same way as Germany. Its membership needs to be reduced so that it can become stronger, more focused. This will also ensure that the commission acts in the balance of interests of all member states."

The Taoiseach rejected charges that powers granted under the reform treaty would make it "self-amending", thus ending the need for future Irish referendums on Europe.

More qualified majority voting [ QMV] will occur if the treaty is accepted, but, Mr Ahern said, "we must also acknowledge the benefit of the QMV system. In a union of 27 member states it is neither practical nor sensible to expect that every decision should be taken unanimously."