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The Nice Treaty - General Questions - 10/04/2002
1. What is the Nice Treaty?
The Nice Treaty is an EU Treaty which makes certain changes to the working methods of the European Union so that its institutions can operate effectively in a larger Union of up to 27 members. The current 15 member states have long agreed that such change is necessary, because the present structures were designed to operate a Union which was originally made up of only six member states.
The negotiations between the member states leading to the Nice Treaty took place at an Intergovernmental Conference that began in February 2000. The Treaty was finally agreed by the Heads of State or Government of the 15 EU members in December 2000 (at Nice in France, during the French Presidency of the EU) and signed on 26 February 2001.
2. Why is Irish business supporting a ‘Yes’ vote?
Irish business is supporting a ‘Yes’ vote for a number of reasons:
- firstly, a larger Europe will give us a single internal market of 500 million people, boosting trade and therefore promoting employment;
- secondly, this Treaty will bring in the administrative reforms to enable the European Union to serve a much wider, more diverse and culturally rich population;
- thirdly, Ireland’s continued position at the heart of Europe is crucially important to our economic and social development;
- fourthly, a huge factor in our ability to attract foreign investment has been our unconditional commitment to the European Single Market.
A second ‘No’ vote to Nice could be interpreted, not least by potential inward investors, as casting our commitment to the European project into doubt. Likewise, Irish businesses trying to develop opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe will face an uphill struggle because of the fallout from a definitive rejection of Nice.
3. What happens to the EU and the candidate countries if Ireland rejects the Nice Treaty this autumn?
If Ireland rejects the Nice Treaty again, the Treaty cannot be passed. This will lead to a major crisis in the enlargement negotiations, as the EU will not be able to facilitate enlargement on the agreed schedule. The EU will be in uncharted waters constitutionally and it is difficult to predict the ultimate outcome. Two potential scenarios would be that:
- the agenda of the Nice Treaty is pushed back to become part of the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) agenda. This would mean a two to three year delay in the enlargement timetable for which the candidate countries would inevitably blame Ireland.
- the provisions of the Nice Treaty that provide for enlargement would be added into the Treaty of Accession of each new member. However, some may consider such an arrangement contrary to the spirit of two Irish ‘No’ votes to enlargement. In this case enlargement will not be practically possible on the original time schedule which the accession countries have worked so hard to meet and delays on fulfiling their aspirations will be inevitable.
The vast majority of Irish citizens support enlargement (only 16% claim to oppose it according to a recent EU study). However, if we vote ‘No’ again, we are complicating rather than facilitating the candidate countries’ entry into the EU.
4. How would a second rejection of ‘Nice’ affect Ireland?
Irish business is concerned about the extent of uncertainty that will arise in the circumstances of a second rejection of the Nice Treaty. Generally speaking, an uncertain environment is not helpful in promoting business development and investment. In addition, Irish business is concerned that by disrupting the process of enlargement, Ireland will lose influence and goodwill: a second ‘No’ vote could call into question our commitment to Europe, alienating our friends and trading partners and eroding our influence into the future.
Ireland has traditionally been regarded as a willing partner in the EU, a position that has always bolstered our negotiating strength. Our successful record in EU negotiations over the past 30 years depended on the goodwill of the other member states towards a small, less-prosperous state, and our capacity to build alliances with other member states. A second rejection would see that same goodwill diminish, as Ireland would be seen as having prospered in the EU but now was only motivated by self-interest, and not committed to facilitating the same opportunities for other countries in an enlarged Union.
5. How would a second rejection of ‘Nice’ affect the Irish economy?
Any diminution of Ireland’s highly valued status in the EU would have serious implications for the Irish economy in two vital areas:
- Loss of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Even though Ireland would continue to have access to the Single Market, foreign investors may view Ireland as a second-best location. Ireland’s international competitors for FDI, particularly from the US, would use our diminished status within the EU against us in the lobbying process.
- Loss of influence in EU decision-making
Ireland’s voice in the debate on EU tax harmonisation would be seriously undermined. Furthermore, any reopening of the Nice Treaty negotiations would also reopen the thorny issue of unanimity or Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) on tax matters. (See Question 18).
6. Why a second Nice referendum?
All member states must unanimously agree if there are to be amendments to the essential treaties that bind together the European Union; if any one country says ‘No’ to a Treaty, the process is halted. Independent research following the last Nice referendum in June 2001 concluded that many Irish people voted ‘No’ on that occasion because they felt they were not given adequate information on what the Treaty was about. A programme of activities over the past year has attempted to rectify this, and people are now in a better position to make a properly informed choice. (See Question 7).
As of September 2002, only Ireland has yet to ratify the Nice Treaty. Ireland is also the only country that must put it to the people through a referendum; all the other 14 member states require that the Treaty be passed through their parliaments.
7. How have the people’s concerns been addressed?
In the absence of a comprehensive campaign from the ‘Yes’ side before the June 2001 Referendum, many issues were not adequately clarified. The Treaty is about the administrative changes necessary to allow enlargement, but there was a failure in getting this point across to the general public. Similarly, the full economic implications for Ireland of this Treaty, as well as the rest of Europe, were not sufficiently highlighted. Since June last year a number of measures have been taken to improve the clarity of the issues at stake in the Nice referendum. Firstly at national level, the National Forum on Europe was set up to raise the profile of European debate in Ireland. Also, new measures were put in place in July to ensure effective Oireachtas scrutiny of EU business.
At European level, the Convention on the Future of Europe, which opened last February, has invited people from all sections of society throughout the 15 member states and the accession countries to participate in a detailed debate on the ‘Future of Europe’. It is through this debate that the main issues of concern about how the EU is run can be comprehensively addressed. (See Questions 47 & 48).
A particular concern of last year - Ireland’s military neutrality - was dealt with decisively by the Irish Government and other EU member states under the Seville declarations. (See Question 43).
8. Why does Ireland need to have a referendum when no-one else does?
This is because of the Irish Constitution. Unlike, for example, the UK, Ireland had a referendum when it joined what was then the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973. The first major treaty to be considered after our accession was the Single European Act (1986) which allowed for the development of the Internal Market. While the then Irish Government intended to simply pass this into law, a constitutional case was taken by the late Mr Raymond Crotty and, in early 1987, the Irish Supreme Court determined that this must be put to the people by referendum. Since then, all significant European Treaties have been put to the people, i.e. the 1992 Maastricht Treaty and the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty.
9. Why is the Treaty so difficult to understand?
The Treaty of Nice is written in legal language. It also amends and builds on the previous Treaties, which must therefore be read in conjunction. There are proposals before the EU Convention on the Future of Europe to pull the main EU Treaties together in an easy readable form that would be more accessible to citizens.
10. Could Ireland lose out under ‘Nice’?
There is nothing in the Treaty which damages Ireland’s national interests. In fact, the vast majority of European nations see it as a good deal for smaller member states. The Treaty was the result of negotiation, and compromises were made by all concerned to reach an agreement. Compared to the Treaties that the Irish electorate voted on in 1987 (the Single European Act or SEA) or 1992 (Maastricht), which made way for the development of the Single Market and broadened the scope of EU co-operation, the Nice Treaty is a moderate European Treaty. Its implications, however, are significant in terms of enlargement of the Union.
11. Does the Nice Treaty affect Irish sovereignty?
Under this Treaty, there are some new areas where decisions will be taken by Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) - that is, with the support of approximately 70% of votes of the member states - rather than by unanimity. (See Appendix 3).
None of the areas to be decided by qualified majority has a negative impact on Ireland’s fundamental national interests. For example, the Irish Government did not want taxation to be on the QMV list and it was successful in ensuring that we retained our veto on taxation matters. At the time of the negotiations, this was considered to be a major achievement by the Irish negotiators and, from an Irish business perspective, this remains an issue of crucial strategic importance. Moreover, the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the Future of Europe will examine the issue of state sovereignty and will include on its agenda a clear definition of the relationship that should exist between the EU and its constituent States.
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