Ireland approves the Lisbon Treaty of the EU

October 3, 2009

Hello list members,

The search for a birth chart for the EU has been ongoing for a long time. The EU has evolved from its modest beginnings as a club based on economic objectives to a true confederate Union with a common foreign policy and President. The latest stage is the Lisbon Treaty which streamlines the Union. Likely the Union took birth in the Maastricht Treaty process which transformed the Economic Community (EC) into the more political union of the European Union (EU).

An important step was taken yesterday in the European integration process when Irish voters yesterday approved the Lisbon Treaty with a sizable majority. This means the Treaty is step closer to entering into force. Two hurdles remain.

1) The President of Poland has yet to sign the Treaty, which has been ratified the Parliament and is expected to do so shortly now that Ireland has ratified it.

2) likewise, the President of Czech Republic is refusing to sign it after parliamentary approval. He is against the Treaty and his supporters are mounting a legal challenge to it.

That said, assuming some resolution is found to the impasse and that the Treaty receives the requisit approval, it would come into force, and we could watch the chart for that time.

Ireland votes Yes to Lisbon Treaty

Saturday, 3 October 2009 19:32

Ireland voted in favour of the Treaty by a final margin of 67.1% to 32.9%. Only two of the 43 constituencies voted against the Treaty.

It was the highest Yes vote in a referendum on Europe since the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992. The turnout was also the highest in a European referendum since the original vote on joining the then EEC in 1972.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1003/eulisbon1.html

Voting closes in Lisbon Referendum

Friday, 2 October 2009 22:54

Polling in the second Lisbon Referendum has ended after 15 hours.

Early indications suggest that turnout may be slightly up on the first Lisbon vote and Fine Gael has claimed an exit poll shows there has been strong support for the treaty.

More than 3m people were eligible to vote in the referendum.

Polling stations around Ireland opened at 7am and closed tonight at 10pm.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1002/eulisbon.html

Is the EU on course to complete ratification?

Yes, now that Irish voters have backed it second time round

Have all other EU members ratified the treaty?

No. The Czech Republic and Poland have yet to do so.

The Czech lower house approved the treaty on 18 February and the upper house (Senate) did so on 6 May. But Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a Eurosceptic, is against the treaty and has not yet signed it. A group of senators is mounting a fresh legal challenge to the treaty in the constitutional court.

Poland's President Lech Kaczynski has not yet signed the treaty, but he is expected to do so within days, now that the Irish have voted "Yes". That would complete Polish ratification.

Germany ratified the treaty on 25 September, but only after extra parliamentary safeguards were approved. These were demanded by the constitutional court, which wanted to ensure that German MPs would participate fully in EU legislation.

LISBON TREATY PROGRESS

Approved by parliament: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK

Approved in second referendum: Irish Republic

Challenges: Czech and Polish presidents yet to sign treaty, Czech Constitutional Court also reviewing treaty

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6901353.stm

The chart for the closing of the polls yesterday with Brussels as the capital of the EU is attached for whatever it is worth.

Thor

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