A 'yes' may bring abortion changes, says MEP
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IRELAND'S stance on abortion could be jeopardised because of reduced voting rights and status under the Lisbon Treaty, a Danish MEP claimed yesterday.
However, the claim by Eurosceptic Jens-Peter Bonde was roundly rejected and attacked by Fianna Fail, Labour and Fine Gael at a meeting of the National Forum on Europe in Dublin yesterday.
Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa said the suggestion that abortion could come to Ireland if the treaty was passed was a case of "nasty politics".
In a keynote address to the Forum on Europe, chaired by Maurice Hayes, the Danish MEP claimed the "culture of consensus" would disappear under the Lisbon Treaty if half of the member states could outvote the other half. Sensitive policy issues such as abortion, corporation tax and direct foreign investment could be affected, he claimed.
Disaster
Mr Bonde also insisted that the loss of a permanent European Commissioner from Ireland would be a "disaster" in terms of emphasising Ireland's position on a range of policy issues.
In a robust defence of the Lisbon Treaty, Fine Gael's Mairead McGuinness insisted the question of abortion did not arise as Ireland's stance was enshrined in the constitution.
"This treaty will not bring abortion into Ireland and will not force us to do anything on ethical issues which we have different views on," she said.
Labour's Proinsias de Rossa said Ireland could retain control of the rate of corporation tax, its stance on abortion and exert influence without having a full-time European Commissioner from Ireland.
- ine Kerr Political Correspondent
