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[Press Release: October 14th, 2002] GREENS CLAIM NICE TREATY WILL NOT PROTECT IRISH NEUTRALITYThe Green Party has warned that the Governments guarantees on neutrality were worthless.Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca, said that the Irish Electorate faced a very stark choice. "They can trust those who have progressively dismantled Irish neutrality over many years and through successive treaties, or they can believe the Green Party whose record on this subject has been entirely consistent. We predicted the emergence of a EU military force at the time of the Amsterdam Treaty. We were dismissed out of hand by our opponents and yet the EU Rapid Reaction Force shows that we were speaking the truth. The Government claims now that the Seville Declaration will protect Irish neutrality. We already had a declaration attached to the Single European Act and this proved to be entirely ineffective. There is no mention of neutrality or a requirement for a UN mandate in any of the Constitution amendments. The proposed amendment also provides a very convenient loophole, which enables the Government to join NATO without a referendum, a point that has been highlighted by John Bruton on the YES side."Councillor de Burca argues that there should be be no doubt that the agenda within the EU is to create a military force to rival that of the United States. "Ireland currently has the lowest spending of the fifteen Member States on defence with a mere 0.75% of GDP going on defence" she says. "One only has to contrast that with the United States of America, which spends a massive 3.2% of GDP on its defence budget. Our defence spending would therefore, inevitably have to rise in order to attain inter-operability with other EU States, most of whom are already members of NATO. The question that Irish people should ask themselves is this: "Do they want to spend more money on arms or would they prefer to have this money spent on health, education, transport and the environment"? Councillor de Burca also points out tha a Yes vote to Nice will not prevent Ireland from joining a Common EU Defence. "Instead, the Government's Amendment envisages that Ireland will join a Common EU Defence in due course and sets out the procedure by which this will happen" she says. "Far from prohibiting the participation by the State in any future Common EU Defence, this amendment will authorise the Government to decide in favour of a Common EU Defence in the European Council and only then to bring it back to the people for approval." The Green Party has also expressed grave concern over the issue of nuclear weapons and any proposed Common Defence established by a European Council. "It's quite clear that any EU Common Defence would have a nuclear weapons component, given the French and British nuclear deterrents. It would be completely unacceptable for this country to even contemplate entering such a nuclear defence arrangement" she says. Councillor de Burca claims that the EU Rapid Reaction Force, is a European Army in the making. "It is unecesary and will be counterproductive, because it will be competing on the one hand with NATO and the USA, thereby creating three international security forces, none of which are likely to be under the effective control or juristiction of international law. What is urgently needed is more effective controls and answerability over NATO and the USA military unilateral activities, not another loose cannon, which the EU Army could become" she adds. For further information please contact Deirdre de Burca on 086 8061450 or email deburca@wicklowgreens.org. |