Question marks over EU reaction if Ireland says No
LUCIA KUBOSOVA
13.06.2008 @ 09:24 CET
A possible Irish No to the Lisbon Treaty in Thursday's referendum could once again turn the attention of EU leaders towards institutional affairs at next week's EU summit.
Britain has already signaled that London would continue with ratification while French prime minister Francois Fillon has said it would mean the end of the treaty.
If the Irish decide to reject the Lisbon Treaty, there will be no treaty, says France (Photo: EUobserver)
According to Reuters, Britain has told other EU member states that it will complete the ratification process whatever the result of Ireland's referendum, set to be announced this afternoon (13 June).
"It is the intention of this government to complete the legislative programme that it has begun on the Lisbon Treaty," a cabinet official in London said, commenting on the Reuters report.
Britain is one of nine member states in the 27-strong Union that has not yet ratified the EU's new document. After the approval in the UK's lower House of Commons, it still needs to be hammered out by the House of Lords.
But this positive signal contrasts with London's move after the European Constitution was rejected in France and the Netherlands in 2005.
Back then, Britain rushed to announce that it was shelving plans for ratification of Europe's charter, which it had also intended to put to a referendum.
Several other countries later criticised London for reacting without consulting its European partners. Some analysts suggest the same appeal for a coordinated EU response would be made in case of Ireland's negative vote.
"There should be no unilateral decision in principle by any country, preferably," Antonio Missiroli from the Brussels-based European Policy Center told EUobserver adding that it is "entirely possible" that Dublin would be asked to come up with a solution.
"That didn't happen with France and the Netherlands in 2005 as nobody asked them to solve the problem but it is also true that in the end France did find a way out as Mr Sarkozy came up with a mini-treaty proposal and that translated into the Lisbon Treaty."
The failed constitution was stripped of its constitutional elements, such as the mentioning of European symbols, like the hymn or flag, but the core parts were maintained in the Lisbon Treaty.
Paris has signalled that it does not see any prospects for the Lisbon Treaty if Irish voters reject it.
"If the Irish decide to reject the Lisbon treaty, obviously, there will be no Lisbon treaty," French prime minister Francois Fillon said in a TV interview on Thursday (12 June), according to media reports.
