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FACTS, NOT POLITICS  STRAIGHT ANSWERS TO CRITICAL QUESTIONS

LIBERTAS ON LISBON  AND WHY TO SAY NO?

HOW WILL LISBON AFFECT OUR ECONOMY?

LISBON WILL BE DECIDED ON BY THE EUROPEAN COURT

The Lisbon Treaty will allow the EU to harmonise national indirect taxes such as VAT. (Article 113 TFEU, protocol 27 on the internal market and competition) The Lisbon Treaty will allow the EU to impose fines and other sanctions on Ireland relating to the nation's management of our budget deficit and budgetary policy (Article 126 TFEU). Ireland's current public sector deficit stands at 12% of GDP. The EU target is 3%. This leaves us open to the possibility of having vast fines imposed on us. These rules are clearly designed for the benefit of the larger EU economies not smaller states like Ireland. The Lisbon Treaty will give the EU decision making power over foreign direct investment (Article 207 TFEU). This has been a vital source of jobs for Ireland.

HOW WILL LISBON AFFECT IRELAND’S TAX AFFAIRS?

Ireland's tax advantages can be undermined via EU jurisdiction on matters of competition and in the interests of ‘harmonisation’. Veto-proof destination taxes could also be applied via Lisbon’s enhanced co-operation provision, neutralising our tax advantages. Furthermore, changes could be made to our tax status without the need for a further referendum. When the government says that Lisbon protects Ireland's veto on tax, they don't tell you that the veto can be given away under Article 48 of the Treaty or under the ‘flexibility’ clause in Article 352 and that you don't have to be asked to agree to these changes in a referendum. Do you trust our politicians that much?

WHAT EFFECT WILL LISBON HAVE ON YOUR FINANCES?

The fall-out from the property crash in Ireland has placed a strain on everybody's pockets. We're seeing cuts in welfare, grants and public services. This is likely to continue. Under Lisbon, the EU will gain the ability to impose its own EU-wide taxes on us. (Article 311 TFEU) That means that you could end up handing over money directly in taxes to Brussels, without need for a further referendum. You’re not being told about that now, but if you vote Yes and then wonder why your taxes increase, you’ll be told: “we voted for that under Lisbon”. In his book New Age of Empires (2008) Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian Prime Minister, rising star in the EU and currently head of the ALDE grouping in the European Parliament, has proposed that the funding for the EU must be based "to a large extent on independent own resources." This means tax. He also said that the EU-budget of €133 billion was "a negligible amount of money” and should be "twenty times higher."

is a pre-crisis treaty for a post-crisis world… I, too, find the treaty “ This increasingly hard to defend with a straight face. “ Wolfgang Münchau on how Lisbon fails to address post-recession economics. Financial Times 13th September 2009

The text that we are voting on is over 300 pages long. It is hard to understand and the language is deliberately vague. That’s why there is so much disagreement over what it means. If we vote for it, these arguments will continue in Brussels. They will eventually have to be decided by the activist European Court.

didn’t read the Lisbon Treaty, they didn’t understand the first word “ ...people about it. No real debate about the Lisbon Treaty could happen. This was a deliberate decision of the European Council. “ EU Development Commissioner Karel de Gucht, September 02, 2009 LISBON HAS ALREADY BEEN REJECTED

95% of the Lisbon text has already been rejected by the people of France and the Netherlands. Last year, we voted No to the Lisbon Treaty. We have given our answer. What part of No did they not understand? It's still the same Treaty and it's still bad for Europe.

KEEP BRUSSELS’ HANDS OFF OUR TAXES

France has said that it is committed to “harmonising” taxes in the EU – this means that we could have to pay the same rates of tax as them. Low taxes have been great for Ireland and have played a big part in attracting investment. In April 2008 Christine Legarde, the French Finance Minister, referring to the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCTB), was quoted by the European Commission as saying that ‘this is one area that they are determined to push’. After Ireland voted No to the Lisbon Treaty last June, Ms. Legarde told the Financial Times that tax harmonisation is still ‘on the agenda’. Referring to Irelands No vote, she said ‘The landscape has slightly modified because of good old Ireland….the imperatives are the same’ (Financial Times – June 18) . Article 113 of the Treaty says that the Council of Ministers “shall” act unanimously to achieve the harmonisation of turnover and other taxes and prevent “distortion of competition”. If they fail due to our veto or our so-called ‘guarantees’, the EU court could step in.

LAST TIME WE VOTED, BRIAN COWEN ADMITTED HE HADN’T READ THE LISBON TREATY. LIBERTAS HAS CALLED ON THE GOVERNMENT 32 TIMES TO SEND THE EXACT TEXT OF LISBON TO EVERY HOME IN IRELAND – THEY HAVEN’T DONE IT BECAUSE THEY KNOW IF YOU READ THE CONTRACT, YOU WON’T SIGN IT. opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals “ Public that we dare not present to them directly. All the earlier proposals will be in the new text, but will be hidden and disguised in some way. “ Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Former President of France and author of the Lisbon Content, Le Monde, June 2007

A CONTRACT FOR A WEAKER IRELAND

VOTE NO TO LISBON