AN Inishowen member of
the Council of Europe said the EU Reform Treaty aims
to make the European Union "more effective and more
efficient".
Senator Cecilia Keaveney said with the EU now in
existence 50 years, it needed updating and
modernising.
“Any good company after 50 years in existence, would
change its structures so that it can meet new
challenges in a more coherent and simplified
fashion. That is all that the EU Reform Treaty seeks
to achieve," she said.
“Ireland's national interest is fully protected
under the terms of this treaty. Europe has no powers
to set our tax rates, it has no say over our
citizenship laws and decisions in the field of
foreign affairs have to be taken with the unanimous
agreement of all 27 member states of the EU.”
The Moville-based representative said Ireland has
exactly the same rights that Germany, France,
Britain and Italy will have on the European
Commission in the future.
She explained: “Decisions will be taken at Council
of Ministers meetings (which represents the
interests of the EU governments in Europe) when 55%
of member states representing 65% of the EU
population support such decisions.
“There are people, either misinformed or mischievous
in their intent, making wild claims that the
European Union will have 105 new powers under this
treaty. This is simply untrue.
"People should not be fooled. The Robert Schuman
Foundation, a highly respected EU think tank states
that the European Union will have approximately a
third new powers, which will include areas such as
sport, energy and the need for a new common EU
immigration policy.
“We no longer live in a European Union of six member
states. We live in a community of 27 member states
and the European Union needs to put itself in a
position to tackle the problems of global warming
and the importation of illegal drugs into the EU in
a more structured manner."
Senator Keaveney added: “The EU Reform Treaty gives
the European Union these new powers so that the EU
can adapt to a changing world." |
