Nice is not mainly about enlargement, argues Dana Rosemary Scallon. It is about the division of Europe into first and second class members and we should reject it
It is an affront to democracy to re-present the same Treaty of Nice to the people of Ireland. According to EU law, each treaty must be passed unanimously by the 15 member-states before it can be ratified. This is clearly not the case with the Treaty of Nice.
Ireland has already democratically rejected this treaty. The world is watching how the EU will treat a small, sovereign independent nation and the democratic will of its citizens.
The people of Ireland deserve a full and open debate on the impact of the changes proposed in the treaty upon Ireland's sovereignty and independence, and upon Europe as a whole.
Ireland's former attorney general John Rogers confirmed that we are deciding on whether to make constitutional changes which would transfer more power to Brussels. In doing so, we would reduce our sovereignty, democracy and independence.
The Treaty of Nice opens the door to a European constitution and government which will take precedence over our Constitution and Dáil. There is a clear majority in the EU institutions supporting this goal.
Additionally, ratifying the treaty will politically endorse a European Charter of Fundamental Rights without proper public or Dáil debate. The Taoiseach politically endorsed this charter in Nice, on the understanding that it would never be made legally binding. However, on an EU level, the publicly-stated intention is to make this charter legally binding in a constitutional treaty in 2004.
Subsequently, decisions by the EU Court of Justice will take precedence over our Constitution and Supreme Court in any case of conflict on EU law.
As it now stands, the majority of all laws emanate from Brussels. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights undermines Ireland's Constitutional position on marriage, family and protection of life. The threat to marriage and family was highlighted by Mr Rogers, and Article 2 of the EU charter, referring to the right to life, excludes the unborn child, according to an earlier case in the EU Commission of Human Rights.
In December 2000, the Pope expressed his disappointment with this charter. It was reported that the Holy Father was deeply unhappy with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights because it "denies God and the family", and did not hide his "disappointment over the fact that the charter's text does not include a reference to God, who is... the supreme source of human dignity and its fundamental rights".
The Holy Father stressed that, "the text written for the European charter has not satisfied the just expectations of many. In particular, the defence of the rights of the person and the family could be more courageous."
He spoke of the rights that were threatened by policies which favour abortion, the increasing openness to the possibility of euthanasia, and, recently, by certain draft laws "concerned with genetic engineering, which are not sufficiently respectful of the embryo's human quality".
The Treaty of Nice is not primarily about EU enlargement. I welcome the statement last week by Giscard D'Estaing, President of the Convention on the Future of Europe, in which he said: "An Irish No in a second Nice referendum will not stop European Union enlargement. An alternative solution can always be found."
This confirms the statement by the President of the EU Commission, Mr Prodi, on June 2001 that Nice is not legally necessary for enlargement. It has also been confirmed at EU level that there will be no sanctions or punishments for a sovereign nation's democratic decision regarding Nice.
Nice is primarily about the division of the EU into first and second-class members through "enhanced co-operation". It opens the way to an EU where an inner circle of countries (led by France and Germany), who want to move quickly towards a federal Europe, will effectively dominate the outer circle, both politically and economically. Ireland will be in this outer circle. This is not the Europe we joined in 1973 where every nation state was equal.
The Treaty will increase the Council of Ministers votes of the larger states from 10 to 29, whereas the votes of smaller states, like Ireland, only increase from three to seven. Additionally, the treaty abolishes the national veto in 35 areas. This centralizes more power in Brussels. We will lose our right to appoint our own commissioner as it will be decided by qualified majority voting in Brussels and not by the Government.
The treaty also undermines Ireland's power to remain neutral. It militarises the EU, with areas of operation covering the EU, parts of Russia, the Middle East and Africa. Denmark, a full EU member, chose to opt out of the military provisions in a special legally-binding protocol. By contrast, the declaration on Irish neutrality given at Seville is not legally binding.
One issue not properly dealt with in the treaty is that the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the European Fisheries policy have not taking due regard of enlargement. This is of vital importance to farming and rural communities in Ireland, the EU and candidate countries, and it should be further discussed before the process of enlargement begins.
For the above reasons I will be voting No to Nice Two.
Dana Rosemary Scallon is an independent MEP for Connacht-Ulster