arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Vandaag worden de Ieren voor de tweede keer dit jaar gevraagd hun mening te geven over het Verdrag van Nice. De eerste maal stemden 54% van de stemgerechtigden die waren komen opdagen tegen dat Verdrag. Het resultaat deed paniek en ontsteltenis ontstaan bij de rechtse Fine Fail-regering en de hoge EU-verantwoordelijken. Een EU-verdrag moet immers door alle lidstaten worden goedgekeurd om te worden uitgevoerd. In de meeste EU-staten zijn het de politici die over Europese verdragen moeten stemmen, in Ierland moeten die door de bevolking d.m.v. een referendum worden goedgekeurd. Nu, de neen-stem van de Ieren in maart dreigde de hele uitbreiding van de EU van 15 naar 25 lidstaten flink te vertragen, en dat mocht niet. Premier Bertie Ahern beloofde dus plechtig dat er een tweede referendum zou komen die het verdrag wel zou goedkeuren.

Het heeft lang geduurd alvorens de datum voor dit tweede referendum werd vastgelegd: tot exact een maand geleden. De Ierse regering heeft geld noch middelen gespaard om een pro-Nice propagandamachine op gang te steken: 1,25 miljoen euro werden gestoken in een massale pro-Nice reclamecampagne. Ook de (nog steeds machtige) katholieke kerk werd voor de pro-Nice-kar gespannen, omdat de Ieren zich solidair moesten tonen tegenover de armere Europese landen. De tegenstanders kregen niets om uit te leggen waarom ze vinden dat het Verdrag van Nice geen goed verdrag is.

Hoewel er van alle kanten al veel kritiek werd geuit over het verdrag (bijvb. het vetorecht van de grotere lidstaten, de relatief slechte vertegenwoordiging van de kleinere lidstaten, het financiële aspect van de uitbreiding, ...), moeten de Ieren vandaag koste wat kost ja stemmen. Een neen-stem is niet katastrofaal: de uitbreiding zou enkel vertraging oplopen. In de loop van de voorbije maanden hebben de EU-technokraten immers al uitgebreid gezocht naar achterpoortjes om het verdrag toch uit te voeren.

Je kan de discussies over het referendum volgen op Indymedia Ierland. Een andere site boordevol informatie over de EU is EU Observer.

De Ierse saga over het Verdrag van Nice toont in ieder geval aan dat we groot gelijk hadden om massaal in Brussel en Barcelona op straat te komen, omdat de EU niet demokratisch is, niet sociaal en in het minst geïnteresseerd in hetgeen de burgers wensen.

The Nice Treaty Referendum

Saturday, October 19th 2002

VOTE NO

Put workers' rights before profits

* For decent public services and decent jobs
* For real democracy, a Europe for working people not big business
* For international solidarity instead of militarism and wars

57 million people in the EU live below the poverty line. This shows that the EU doesn't exist for the benefit of working class people. The Nice Treaty is the latest example of how the EU exists to benefit big business at the expense of workers' rights and living standards. The Treaty calls for "the achievement of uniformity in measures of liberalisation", code for privatisation, redundancies and extra charges for services.

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins says:
"The entire Irish capitalist establishment are united in trying to force this Treaty down the people's throats. Don't trust them - a defeat for them on Nice will be a defeat for their whole anti-working class agenda. Vote No to Nice on Referendum Day".

For decent public services

The Socialist Party stands for decent public services. We want high-quality services in health, education, transport etc. to improve the quality of life for ordinary people. European big business is promoting the Nice Treaty which will deny us these services.

Nice allows the unelected European Commission to negotiate with the World Trade Organisation on the proposed General Agreement of Trade in Services which promotes "liberalisation" (including privatisation) in 160 service sectors including health, water, energy, telecoms and postal services. The proposed new Article 133 of the Nice Treaty on European Union consolidates these policies.

Privatisation represents the robbery of tax payers whose money was used to build up state utilities as assets belonging to the people. These are then sold off at ridiculous prices so big business can make massive profits. What inevitably follows are massive job losses, worsening of services and enrichment of a wealthy few.

In Britain, railway privatisation put profits before safety - dozens died as a result. Already the FF/PD government are lining up post-Nice privatisations at Aer Lingus/Aer Rianta, ESB, Bord Gais, Bord na Mona and Bus Eireann.

The anti- working class nature of these plans is shown by the fact that, in preparation for privatisation, 4,000 jobs have been or are to be axed at Aer Lingus and the ESB alone.

The Socialist Party believes that workers, students and communities must organise to defeat privatisation, fees and service charges. Part of this struggle is the struggle to defeat the Nice referendum.

Europe wants more double taxation

Nice strengthens the FF/PD government's drive for double taxation service charges. The EU support bin charges, it wants to see the re-introduction of water rates here too. PAYE workers still pay more than 80% of all tax yet this government wants a situation where people would pay in the region of Û600 a year minimum for such services.

Enlargement means more exploitation

Nice is not necessary for enlargement as the EU Commission President Romano Prodi himself admitted.

The argument of the YES supporters is totally hypocritical - big business wants to use Nice to exploit East European workers.

EU rules ban state subsidies to industry which will destroy whole industries. Massive privatisations will provide business opportunities to European firms and add to the mass unemployment. This will be used to drive down wages.

The USA-Mexico Free Trade Agreements cut the living standards of Mexican workers by 30%. These policies are likely to have the same effect on the workers of Eastern Europe. This is a major reason why the majority of people polled recently in the Czech Republic are opposed to joining the EU.

War & Exploitation

"If we are to preserve competitive defence industries, we need an integrated [European] defence force"
European Round Table

As George W. Bush prepares for war on Iraq, the European capitalist establishment would like to have the ability to "intervene" in its interests in a similar way on the international stage.

The Nice Treaty advances plans for a European Army, the Rapid Reaction Force. The RRF would exist to defend the interests of European big business. This means there could be "resource wars", where the lives of ordinary people will be sacrificed for profit.

Tony Blair has called the RRF "an extension of NATO". NATO is an imperialist alliance armed with nuclear weapons. Nice creates an EU Common Foreign and Security Policy Committee to oversee the RRF. A representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs is due to sit on it.

A European Army will mean huge increases in arms spending. This will mean less cash for Europe's health and education services and more for Europe's 40 big arms companies who made Û55billion profit in l998 alone.

The Government's "declaration of neutrality" has no legal standing whatsoever. It is only a joke in the light of these realities.

Undemocratic referendum

This referendum is undemocratic. The exact same wording was rejected by the people only last year.

The Treaty itself is undemocratic. It increases the power of the big states in the EU by trebling their voting power while only doubling the voting power of smaller states.

There are to be 30 new issues on which a unanimous vote is no longer needed. This will make it easier to push through policies which undermine the rights of ordinary people.

Against racist scaremongering

The Socialist Party opposes the reactionary ideas of right-wing NO campaigners who argue that Nice "opens the floodgates" to immigrants.

Only a tiny percentage of people from Eastern Europe are interested in coming to the 'old' EU countries, most wanting to move to neighbouring states.

The argument that spending on refugees is stopping action on homelessness and poverty within Ireland is a con trick. If wealth was used for people's needs, it is entirely possible to provide for the needs of Irish people and refugees alike.

Defend education

"All schools should be privatised. Schools will respond better to paying customers... [as opposed to] the culture of laziness where students pursue subjects not related to industry"
European Round Table

College registration fees have been increased by 70%. The reintroduction of student fees here is being promoted by the EU. This will further restrict access to third level education.

EU sources have argued that Irish tuition fees should rise to Û 3,000-4,000 per annum. The privatisation of education would have disastrous consequences.

For a workers' charter

The Socialist Party stands for a charter of rights for European workers. Such a charter would involve moving to increase pay rates, pension rates, etc, across the board to the level of the highest rates
currently existing in Europe

In Luxemburg the minimum wage is Û1,300 per month - this should become the EU minimum wage rate. In France the working week is 35 hours. In Germany unemployed workers receive 60% of a workers' wage. In Sweden workers receive 15 months parental leave at 90% pay. These should all become European norms and so on with pensions, etc. But Bertie Ahern and Mary Harney are not in favour of implementing these gains which have been won by the struggles of European workers.

United action of European workers

As a first step the Socialist Party stands for the rejection of the Nice Treaty and for international action to halt the implementation of the bosses' agenda and the reversal of all the attacks on our rights, wages and conditions which have taken place over the last years.
Recently 10 million workers in Spain, 13 million workers in Italy took part in general strikes against attacks on wages and conditions which were being driven by the EU. The bosses' and right wing governments throughout are organised and co-ordinated. We believe it is vital that the workers movement in Europe co-ordinates its own struggles to take on our common enemies.

The Socialist Party

What we stand for

A united struggle of working class people in Europe against cuts in welfare, de-regulations, privatisations, job losses and racism

End the dictatorship of the capitalist market - for the democratic public ownership and socialist policies which uses the wealth and resources for the benefit of ordinary people

For a voluntary, democratic Socialist Confederation of Europe

The Socialist Party believes that Nice and the whole process of European political and economic integration is a capitalist project designed to benefit big business at our expense. We believe that if united, ordinary people have the capabilities and power to re-organise Europe on a democratic socialist basis. The material basis is being laid for the re-establishment of a new genuine socialist movement throughout Europe. By fighting to transform the unions linked with the growing anti capitalist movement, new mass socialist parties will be built in the years ahead.

Such developments will help overcome the diminishing of socialist ideas that developed over the last years because of the sell-outs of the so-called Labour/Socialist Parties. Genuine socialism represents the only alternative to capitalism and the only real future for ordinary people throughout Europe. That is what the Socialist Party in Ireland is fighting for. We are affiliated to the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) which unites socialists in 35 countries.

De Ieren hebben onder de druk van hun regering gezwicht: ja heeft het behaald...