EU ENLARGEMENT AS A FACTOR IN IRELAND’S NICE TREATY REFERENDUM

Year 2002, Volume: 7 Issue: 3, 0 - 0, 01.09.2002

John Obrennan

Abstract

In the aftermath of the shock result of the Nice Treaty referendum in Ireland in June 20011 it was commonly stated that the result did not represent the electorate’s rejection of European Union EU enlargement. In fact both supporters and opponents of the Nice Treaty agreed wholeheartedly on this point. The Taoiseach Irish Prime Minister and his Foreign Minister assured their counterparts in the EU and the candidate states of Central and Eastern Europe CEE that purely domestic factors explained the result –enlargement had not been an issue. Opponents of the Treaty, similarly, couched every public statement with an insistence that they were in favour of enlargement. These claims were treated with some scepticism in the CEE candidate states. Not only would the result complicate the ongoing enlargement negotiations; it might postpone accession indefinitely.

References

• 1 The referendum on the Nice Treaty, mandated by the Irish Constitution, was held on 7 June 2001. The turnout was 34.8 per cent and the result was a rejection of the Treaty by a margin of 54 to 46 per cent.
• 2 The Irish Government established the National Forum on Europe (NFOE) after the 2001 referendum. The Forum’s mandate was “to facilitate a broad discussion of issues relevant to Ireland’s membership of an enlarging Union and to consider the range of topics arising in the context of the debate on the Future of Europe” (NFOE, Chairman’s Report, 2002:5).
• 3 Quoted in The Independent, 10 June 2001.
• 4 Irish Examiner, 18 June 2001.
• 5 The Observer, 17 June 2001.
• 6 The Irish Times, 19 June 2001.
• 7 The Daily Telegraph, 10 June 2001.
• 8 The Guardian, editorial, 11 June 2001.
• 9 The Irish Times, 28 June 2001.
• 10 National Forum on Europe (NFOE), 2002. Environmental and Social Perspectives on an Enlarging Europe, Report on Proceedings, 29 November 2001, Number 6, Dublin: Government Publications Office, p. 22.
• 11 Charlotte Lindberg Warakaulle, The Observer, 23 June 2002.
• 12 In 1972, Ireland’s per capita GDP stood at 58 per cent of the EEC average. The equivalent figure for Ireland’s per capita GDP in 2002 stood at 122 per cent. 13 Ireland’s national policy and advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation.
• 14 The Irish Times, 2 January 2002.
• 15 IBEC, 2002. Submission to the National Forum on Europe: EU Enlargement, 31 January, p. 3.
• 16 National Forum on Europe (NFOE), 2002. Enlargement and Trade and Investment, Report on Proceedings, 22 November 2001, Number 5, Dublin: Government Publications Office, p. 26.
• 17 Ibid., p. 28.
• 18 The Irish Times, 24 June 2002.
• 19 The Irish Times, 9 July 2002.
• 20 Sunday Business Post, 18 August 2002.
• 21 The Irish Times, 7 July 2002.
• 22 Sunday Business Post, 16 June 2002.
• 23 In Ireland the agricultural sector accounts for 10 per cent of GDP and approximately 12 per cent of employment. Almost ğ6 billion of agricultural produce is exported annually.
• 24 Interview with Bernard Durkan TD, Chairman, Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) Committee on European Affairs, Dublin, 19 March 2002.
• 25 National Forum on Europe (NFOE), 2002. The Effects of Enlargement on Agriculture and the Food Industries, Report on Proceedings, 6 December 2001, Number 7, Dublin: Government Publications Office, pp. 11-13.
• 26 The Irish Times, 5 June 2001.
• 27 Emphasis added.
• 28 National Forum on Europe (NFOE), 2002. The Effects of Enlargement on Agriculture and the Food Industries, Report on Proceedings, 6 December 2001, Number 7, Dublin: Government Publications Office, pp. 43.
• 29 Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs, Report on the Enlargement of the European Union, Dublin: Government Publications Office, April 2002, p. 65.
• 30 The Irish Times, 30 May 2001.