By Martin Banks - 5th October 2009
The European institutions have funnelled a great deal of time and resource into securing a yes vote
Michal Kaminski
Parliament's president Jerzy Buzek says the resounding victory for the Yes camp in the Irish referendum means that Europe is "back on track."
Commenting in the wake of the 67 per cent of voters who backed the Lisbon treaty, the Polish MEP said, "I strongly welcome the result of the Irish referendum. The Irish people have demonstrated true commitment to the European project.
"They reconfirmed their desire to be in the heart of Europe. This is good news for Ireland and good news for Europe.
"The EU will become more effective and our cooperation more fruitful."
Socialist group leader Martin Schulz said: "I was proud to see pro-Europeans standing up so firmly for their convictions.
"I call on citizens all over Europe to follow the Irish lead and stand up for our EU. We must not leave the ground to the opponents of Europe.
"The pro-European movement needs to find its soul once more and take the lead in renewing EU integration," said the German deputy.
His party's spokesman on constitutional affairs, Spanish deputy Ramón Jáuregui, said: “The Irish yes opens the way to the Europe we need in the 21st century and ends five years of uncertainty and transition in the EU's political and legal framework.
"We need a stronger and more united Europe to play our part in world governance and in resolving the major problems that face humanity.”
European Conservative and Reformist group leader Michal Kaminski MEP was less enthusiastic. He said, "The treaty still has hurdles to pass before it is ratified and we must not pre-judge the constitutional processes in Poland or the Czech Republic.
"The European institutions have funnelled a great deal of time and resource into securing a yes vote and the interventions of the commission in this internal debate have been extremely regrettable and undemocratic.
"The Irish have not given a full-throated support for the treaty; they have been forced into accepting it."
The group's deputy leader Timothy Kirkhope, a UK Tory MEP, said, "The Irish people have been given two opportunities to voice their opinion on this treaty, yet the British people are still being denied their say.
"In the UK, the Conservative party will continue to call on Gordon Brown to honour his manifesto commitment to put the treaty to a referendum."
In a statement, Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, joint leaders of the Greens/EFA group, said, "The Greens wholeheartedly welcome the convincing yes vote from Ireland.
"This paves the way to securing the treaty that a 27-strong EU needs if it is to be better equipped to face these current times of global crisis. We must now close the final remaining stages of the ratification process as quickly as possible.
"Only the Czech president Václav Klaus is persisting in blocking this process. Europe must now exert pressure on him to give up his twisted policy of obstruction, which may cost the Czechs their commissioner in the new commission."
German EPP deputy Elmar Brok, parliament's former representative on the intergovernmental conference on the old EU constitution, "warmly welcomed" the Irish vote.
He said, "It is very pleasing that after the failure of the referendum last year now a clear majority of the Irish has voted in favour of the treaty.
"This proves from my point of view that the advantages of the treaty have been become even more obvious in view of the current economic crisis."
The Party of European Socialists president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, a former MEP and Danish PM, said, “I want to thank the Irish people for voting yes to a better future together with all Europeans.
"The Irish people know that we’ve all got to work together now: to fight the financial and economic crisis and stop mass unemployment.
"It’s only through common action amongst Europe’s progressive forces that we’re going to stop this crisis ever happening again.
“The treaty gives us more democracy, more efficiency and a stronger basis to fight common challenges.
"The Irish Yes vote is a setback for all those anti-Europeans who wanted to undermine progress for people across the EU. The anti-Europeans are increasingly isolated and not in tune with people's desire to be part of a common, democratic Europe.”
Lothar Bisky, leader of the GUE/NGL group, said, "The Left in Europe always campaigned for obligatory referenda on the treaty in all member states. Only the voters in Ireland had the possibility of taking their decision directly.
"We have always stressed that the result of the first referendum - the refusal of the treaty - must be respected. In the second referendum thus ignores a democratic decision of the citizens.
"This decision also has to be respected. But the number of No votes shows how serious the concerns of a large part of the population are regarding the political orientation in the EU."
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