Irish Yes / Tá to Lisbon opens door to treaty ratification

“We are writing European history together” said EP President Jerzy Buzek after Ireland voted YES to the Lisbon treaty on Friday (2 October). Irish voters supported the treaty by a decisive 67.1% in favour with 32.9% against it. The large swing to the yes camp has been attributed in large part due to the worsening economic situation across the Republic in the last year. Overall turnout was 59%.

The Irish referendum was seen as the largest remaining hurdle to the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty. The treaty enjoys large majority support in the European Parliament as it extends the involvement of directly elected representatives in both the European and national parliaments to practically all areas of EU lawmaking.

It also streamlines the workings of the Union and creates the post of a permanent EU President and the post of a High Representative for foreign affairs.

Czech and Polish signatures now required

In order for the treaty now to enter into effect, it must still be signed by both Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Czech President Václav Klaus. In both countries the parliaments have already ratified the text. The Czech President currently says that he will withhold his signature pending a verdict by his country's Constitutional Court, which has been asked for a new opinion on the treaty by a group of Senators in the Czech parliament.