Ireland votes "no" on EU superstate

The European Union was unable to ratify a constitution uniting Europe, because France and the Netherlands rejected it. So then they tried to push it through as the "Lisbon Treaty", because that way they could avoid the voters - except for Ireland, which requires all treaties to be submitted to the voters for approval.

Now the Irish voters have spoken, and they've rejected it. From Soeren Kern at the Brussels Journal:

Why Irish Voters Rejected the Lisbon Treaty

Irish voters on June 12 said ‘No’ to the superpower ambitions of European political elites, who want all 27 member-states of the European Union to ratify the 269-page (about 3000 pages with annexes) Lisbon Treaty that would turn the EU into a bureaucratic superstate. Ireland was the only country to submit the “Reform Treaty” to a popular vote; all other member states of the EU intend to ratify the document through parliamentary procedures. Although by EU law the Irish vote (53.4 percent said ‘No’ and 46.6 percent said ‘Yes’) should kill the treaty (because it requires unanimous approval to come into effect), European politicians will almost certainly find a way to keep it alive.

[...]

As many observers of European politics know, democracy does not come easy on a continent where European elites view themselves as an aristocracy entitled to rule over the ignorant masses. Indeed, the entire European social welfare state has been built upon the unspoken quid pro quo of “bread and circuses” (ie, the cradle-to-grave nanny state) for the general populace, in exchange for their loyal submission to the political and intellectual classes.

[...]

What follows is a brief summary of comments made by select European leaders, both before and after the Irish referendum. It not only provides an explanation as to why Irish voters are turned off by the Lisbon Treaty, but it also sheds some light on the state of democracy in contemporary Europe. [...]

Read the whole thing, it's an education. And a good explanation of why the European way is not for us.

More from John Laughland at the Brussels Journal:

What Ireland’s No Means for the Future

[...] With the Lisbon treaty, the EU is precisely trying to find a foreign policy role for itself: the whole point of the treaty, just as of the now defunct constitution, is to give the EU a foreign minister in all but name. Never mind the fact that the EU states occasionally diverge on foreign policy priorities; the reasoning is presumably that, once EU foreign policy is institutionalised, it will come into being of its own accord in the same way as EU laws do once the institutions are created to draw them up.

The EU wants this foreign policy role because it wants a big project to justify its existence. [...]

Yep, the European Elites have got plans. They just need to get those damned voters out of the way once and for all, so they can get on with ruling the world. Read the whole thing for more details.