Non, Nee, No

[Edric O]

Thank you Ireland! Once again the people of a European country have spoken in a referendum, and once again they have rejected the undemocratic, neoliberal project embodied in the ex-"constitution", or the Lisbon Treaty as it is now called.

The European Union is, in principle, a good idea. But as it stands today, it is an unaccountable, bureaucratic, neoliberal mess. It takes no account of the opinions, wishes, or needs of its citizens. It is a compromise between politicians and capitalists, with no input from the people. The decision-making processes of the EU violate the most basic democratic principles, especially the separation of powers. Most legislative power is given to ministers, who are not directly elected by the people of the EU - or, as in the case of British ministers, they are elected for completely different jobs than the ones they do in Brussels.

The European Union cannot and should not go on like this. The Lisbon Treaty would have solved none of the major, structural problems at the heart of the EU. It would have done nothing to increase democracy or accountability. It would have done nothing to stop the erosion of the welfare state and of workers' rights that is being continuously pushed by Brussels. As such, it is a very good thing that the Irish rejected the Lisbon Treaty, like the French and the Dutch rejected the old "constitution."

We deserve a better treaty. We deserve a better Europe.

BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7454333.stm

[Caid Ivik]

A quality of an idea depends on its formulation. I would gladly see EU developing into nothing more than a complex of various multilateral trade and diplomatic treaties, promoting cooperation between countries on regional levels. As it was before Maastricht and as it should be.