I thank the Chairman for his invitation and the members of the committee and its secretariat, particularly the clerk, for arranging this debate. It is an honour to be invited to address the first plenary of the committee to take place outside Leinster House. It is representative of the committee's commitment to ensure the importance of the treaty is shown to the Irish people.
The Irish Alliance for Europe represents a host of non-political organisations in the country who are campaigning for a "Yes" vote. Essentially, we represent Irish civil society including, among others, business, trade unions, farmers, environmentalists, lawyers, academics and students. Our genesis is from the Alliance for Europe which was established to fight for the ratification of the Nice treaty. It was felt then, as it is now, that putting the case for Ireland in Europe should not be left to political parties — no offence to the members present. We believe it is far too important for this. Europe's importance to Ireland is so wide ranging that it impacts on every sector of society and we have come together to put the case for this treaty in a way that transcends politics.
The alliance believes the Irish people are best served by an honest debate that focuses on facts and the actual detail of the treaty and what it really means for Ireland. It is regrettable that much of the debate thus far has been marked by scaremongering, misrepresentation of the facts and accusations of ulterior motives on both sides. As in our campaign, in my remarks this evening I will deal strictly in the truth about what is in the treaty, what is not in the treaty and what this decision means for us, the Irish people.
This evening, I will pose a number of questions about the treaty and Europe which I ask the audience to consider. I will outline the imperative for reform and answer the questions about why we need this treaty. I will then go on to speak of whether the EU is best equipped to deal with the challenges that face it in the 21st century, the role of the EU in the wider world, the challenge of creating EU institutions that work better and are closer to the people and the role of the treaty in securing Ireland's hard won prosperity.
Today's European Union has 27 member states. It is clear that such a Union cannot be run with machinery designed for a community of six, particularly when the challenges facing the Union today are completely different from those which confronted the original six members 51 years ago. This is the core reason the EU needs this reform treaty.
We are at the end of nearly 20 years of almost constant institutional reform. This treaty represents an end to the navel-gazing of the EU and allows it to tackle the problems of the 21st century. It was unanimously agreed between 27 sovereign states after being hammered out over the course of several years, a constitutional convention, two inter-governmental conferences, several presidencies and many late nights in Brussels. This treaty is the best possible deal for Ireland that could have arisen out of this process. It protects our vital interests and our voice in Europe. Most importantly, it allows Europe to move forward.
The Irish Alliance for Europe is not afraid to accept that this treaty is very similar to the constitutional treaty. We are confident in the deal that Ireland got because it was negotiated not only by our senior politicians, in particular by the outgoing and incoming Taoisigh who held the EU Presidency at the time, but by John Bruton, our former Taoiseach, who was a member of the Presidium of the Constitutional Convention, Pat Cox, who was President of the European Parliament, David O'Sullivan, who was the top civil servant of the European Commission, and Catherine Day, who was Director General in the European Commission section dealing with the environment. These are five Irishmen and one Irishwoman in the top six positions in Europe. Let us be frank, if it all came down to who was from the big countries, Pat Cox would have been on the Liberal backbenches in Strasbourg, David O'Sullivan would still have been a Third Secretary in Iveagh House and Catherine Day would still have been the EU information officer for IBEC.
Is Europe equipped to face the challenges of the 21st century? In the past ten years 500,000 women and children were trafficked into Europe. Let us think about that. In the first years of the 21st century we still have not solved the problem of human slavery. It should shame us that women and children are bought and sold for sex within our borders. In the past 12 months, €50 billion worth of drugs were imported into Europe by criminal gangs who for years have profited from human misery, the destruction of our communities and the undermining of our social fabric. Europe needs to be capable of dealing with these problems.
The Lisbon treaty extends co-operation into areas of border controls, police administration and crime prevention, equipping the Union with the potential to deal with issues such as the scourges of drugs, sex trafficking and cross-border crime. We know this can work. Last year, using provisions introduced in 1998 through the Amsterdam treaty, which Roger Cole mentioned, police forces working through EuroPol and EuroJust, arrested a paedophile in Spain, seized his computer and using information on his hard drive broke up one of the largest child sex offenders rings in Europe, making more than 500 arrests across the EU. How many children are now safe because of actions that could not have happened without the EU or the Amsterdam treaty against which so many people argued? Ireland has the best of both worlds with regard to this area of the treaty. We can opt in to any policy initiative while at the same time preserving our right to protect our unique legal system.
What of the issue of climate change? Scientists estimate that by 2030, the damage done by climate change will be irreversible. There is a real danger that in the next 50 years large parts of Ireland and the rest of coastal Europe will be uninhabitable because of the careless disregard we have shown for the planet since the Industrial Revolution. This is not scaremongering or alarmism. Recently, I attended a meeting in Cork, where I heard a local Deputy express his real fear that by 2050, within his lifetime, half of his constituency would be under water. Climate change is the single biggest threat to the future of our children and our grandchildren. However, we cannot leave it to them to deal with it. We must create the tools to the fix the problem of climate change now.
In six simple words, the Lisbon treaty makes combating climate change one of the fundamental objectives of the EU, equal in importance to the goals of peace and prosperity and the free movement of people, goods and services. It backs up these six words by extending the Union's areas of action to include energy, transport and the environment. It creates the imperative to deal with this problem and the means with which to do it.
We know the EU has been tremendously successful over 50 years in creating peace and prosperity for its peoples. The challenge for our grandparents was how to secure peace in Europe after the Second World War. For our parents, it was how to turn that peace into the chance of prosperity for all. For us, it is how we respond to the monumental challenges we face in the era of globalisation and interdependence and create a world fit to pass to our grandchildren. To many the Lisbon treaty is not exciting or sexy but it will allow us to take the machinery which has created the past 50 years of peace and prosperity and with the reform this treaty provides apply them to the challenges that will face us, the peoples of Europe, for the next 50 years. When the heroin that destroys our youth comes from poor Afghan farmers, when Europe is faced with an influx of refugees from Africa as a result of humanitarian crises, when pollution knows no borders, we can no longer pretend that the problems of others are not our concern and that Ireland can deal with these issues on its own. The Lisbon treaty creates the framework within which Europe will be able to address them. It does this in two ways. First, it creates the post of high representative of the European Union to deal with foreign affairs and security policy issues. This representative will be able to speak for the Union with a loud voice on the world stage. Second, the treaty strengthens the role of the European Union on the world stage by ensuring it is recognised as a legal personality. It allows the Union to enjoy the same status in international law as the European Community. This certainly does not mean the end of the nation state, the dawn of a federal state or an empire.
Let us talk about and be very clear about neutrality. Ireland's neutrality is not affected by the treaty. This issue has been raised in every European debate in this country since we joined the EEC in 1973. Whether we are neutral is not a matter for Europe but for our Parliament and an internal debate. With regard to the common defence requirements provided for in the treaty, Mr. Cole made reference to a specific section, but he did not stress the key phrase, which is, "in accordance with the respective constitutional requirements". In Ireland that means we have a referendum. It is that simple. That is the law. Ireland cannot be included in any common defence policy unless there is a referendum held here.
What issues would this treaty have changed? In the 1990s the European Union stood idly by while tens of thousands were butchered on its doorstep in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. It was incapable of helping them. We had to wait for the USA to do what was needed to save lives and protect the rights of the peoples of the Balkans. The Lisbon treaty provides a mechanism to ensure it will never happen again that Europe is left naked in the face of such aggression.
Europe stands for a set of values and Irish values have never been breached by European values. How do we make the European Union more efficient and at the same time bring it closer to the people? If the Union is to assume a greater role in the areas I have mentioned, it must meet two burdens. First, it must be able to make and implement decisions in an effective and efficient manner. Second, it must be responsible to the people upon whom those decisions impact the most. There are three bodies within the EU decision-making structures, two of which make decisions and both of which contain directly elected representatives — directly elected Ministers and directly elected MEPs. Therefore, it is a fallacy to say the European Union is undemocratic. There will be a new double-majority system, making the institutions even more democratic. This will comprise 65% of the Union's population, together with a 55% majority of member states. This will make the Union more equal.
The treaty also introduces significant changes to the European Commission. Following on the principle agreed in the Nice treaty, each Commission will be made up of representatives of two thirds of the member states on a strictly rotating basis. In the past some countries had a right to have two Commissioners but now everyone will be equal. At the same time, the treaty recognises the European Union must be more democratic and transparent. The Council of Ministers will meet and vote in public. No longer will we see a national Minister emerging from a Council meeting and saying to an RTE representative, "Europe made me do it". We will be able to see, via the Internet, what way the Ministers voted. I cannot think of anything more democratic or transparent than this.
As there is no debate in terms of the benefits of membership of the European Union to the economy, I will not list the statistics. However, the question must be asked whether the Treaty of Lisbon will help or hinder the future growth of the economy. It should be noted that we retain the right to make all the most important fiscal economic decisions ourselves. The treaty preserves our veto in tax matters, although Mr. Cole's friends in Libertas have disputed this on an ongoing basis. Despite the wishful thinking of a French Minister and Commissioner László Kovács, as reported in last Tuesday's edition of The Irish Times, we have a veto in this area. The treaty preserves our veto in tax matters, despite the scaremongering regarding enhanced co-operation. The rate of all taxes levied in this country will remain a matter for the Government. That is a matter of fact.
The treaty will have no impact on Ireland's ability to attract foreign direct investment. There is nothing in it that changes Ireland's position on foreign direct investment. It will continue to require unanimity at the Council of Ministers. The treaty clearly states that "for the negotiation and conclusion of agreements in the fields of trade in services and the commercial aspects of intellectual property, as well as foreign direct investment, the Council shall act unanimously".
I like to think I am a republican. I am a peaceful republican and find it hard to have that notion of peaceful republicanism challenged. What more mature type of modern republicanism can we have than one which is willing to share that which we hold most dear, for the betterment of our people, our continent and future generations? The treaty goes beyond guaranteeing our economic sovereignty. The Common Market has been tremendously successful for Ireland and will continue thus for the future of our children.
The critics of the treaty, most of whom have been against the European Union from the start, are desperate to present it as a reversal of the freedom that was so hard won. However, the reality is that Ireland joining the EEC was part of our struggle for freedom. We declared our political independence in 1916 and secured our economic independence in 1973. I am proud to be Irish and European. I want to raise my children in an Ireland that contributes to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. I want my children to be raised in an Ireland that is at the heart of the European Union. That is why the Irish Alliance exists and we must vote "Yes".
