Since I graduated from college almost twenty years ago I have believed that the European Union offered the only realistic political choice for attempting to address issues of sustainability, for ensuring humanitarian and social justice and, in more recent years, for dealing with what is the greatest challenge facing humanity tacking: climate change.
As an environmental scientist I largely owe my career to the EU for its role in forcing Ireland as a member state to introduce environmental legislation. Without the EU bringing into force various directives on environment, employment, waste management, water resources, soil protection, air quality, renewable energy, biodiversity protection etc.; it can be generally assumed that Ireland would never have bothered and the country would truly be a third world country.
Do you really think, given the qualifications of most elected Dail representatives, that they would be capable of governing this state without guidance from the EU? Given the performance over the past twenty years, I think not. If it were not for the EU mandate of protecting citizens rights and continuously introducing new legal directives that require implementation by member states, Ireland would not now have such regulations that protect its citizens.
Nevertheless, we are now in the 21st century and entering a new kind of era that no other generation has faced before. Over the summer I read the excellent book D-Day by military historian, Anthony Beevor. For our generation, it is almost impossible to understand how in the course of some three months in Normandy alone some 400,000 soldiers were killed or seriously wounded fighting for peace in this part of Europe while some 35,000 innocent French civilians were killed in the battle. Over the last century the challenge facing people was Fascism or Stalinism, today the challenge is climate change and sustainable development. While World War II may have claimed the lives of some 70 million people, this figure pales into insignificance when we consider the implications of climate change worldwide.
Wars have always been about resources but this century we have a resource problem of gigantic proportions. With some 7 billion people now living on this planet, how is humanity going to deal with dwindling resources for an ever-increasing world population. In the 21st century, how are we going to try and manage our resources and address the critical issues of sustainability? How will we deal with energy, food security, the threat of war, terrorism and the humanitarian and climate change crises? I believe that only through the EU can we hope to address these enormous challenges and the first step is to empower the European commission with new legal powers and responsibilities. If we do not, the system will fail; a system that has brought peace and prosperity to Europe for over half a century.
So how will the treaty of Lisbon protect us? I will give you some examples quoting text from the treaty.
On sustainable development, protection of human rights and cultural heritage, Article 2 of the Treaty states: “the European Union shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance. It shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child.
It shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced. In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child, as well as to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter.”
On supporting developing countries, Article 10a states the European union shall “foster the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of developing countries, with the primary aim of eradicating poverty; assist populations, countries and regions confronting natural or man-made disasters”
On aspects of common security and defence policy Article 17 states: “The common security and defence policy shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. It shall provide the Union with an operational capacity drawing on civilian and military assets. The Union may use them on missions outside the Union for peace-keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.”
In developing competences within member states, something that again appears critical to the administration of Ireland’s public sector, Article 2a states: the Union shall “share competence with the Member states in Environment, consumer protection, transport, trans-European networks, energy, area of freedom, security and justice”
On protection of human health Article 2 E states:“the Union shall have competence to carry out actions to support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States. The areas of such action shall, at European level, be: protection and improvement of human health, industry, culture, tourism, education, vocational training, youth and sport, civil protection and administrative cooperation.’
On discrimination Article 5b states: “In defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall aim to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.”
On immigration Article 63a states: “The Union shall develop a common immigration policy aimed at ensuring, at all stages, the efficient management of migration flows, fair treatment of third-country nationals residing legally in Member States, and the prevention of, and enhanced measures to combat, illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings; in particular women and children”.
On economic and monetary policy, something that is critical to Ireland in its current financial crisis, Article 104 states: ‘Where the Council decides that an excessive deficit exists, it shall adopt, without undue delay, on a recommendation from the Commission, recommendations addressed to the Member State concerned with a view to bringing that situation to an end within a given period.’
On public health, Article 152 states: “It shall in particular encourage cooperation between the Member States to improve the complementarity of their health services in cross-border areas”
On the environment and climate change Article 174 states: “ it shall promote measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, and in particular combating climate change.”
On energy Article 176 A states: “In the context of the establishment and functioning of the internal market and with regard for the need to preserve and improve the environment, Union policy on energy shall aim, in a spirit of solidarity between Member States, to: ensure the functioning of the energy market; ensure security of energy supply in the Union; and promote energy efficiency and energy saving and the development of new and renewable forms of energy; and promote the interconnection of energy networks”.
On administrative cooperation within the European Union Article 176 D states: “the effective implementation of Union law by the Member States, which is essential for the proper functioning of the Union, shall be regarded as a matter of common interest and the Union may support the efforts of Member States to improve their administrative capacity to implement Union law. Such action may include facilitating the exchange of information and of civil servants as well as supporting training schemes.”
On development cooperation Article 188 D states: “Union development cooperation policy shall have as its primary objective the reduction and, in the long term, the eradication of poverty”
The treaty also addresses economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries. Article 188 I states: “When the situation in a third country requires urgent financial assistance from the Union, the Council shall adopt the necessary decisions on a proposal from the Commission.”
The treaty has a solidarity clause in Article 188 R stating that: “The Union and its Member States shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster. The Union shall mobilize all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources made available by the Member States, to: prevent the terrorist threat in the territory of the Member States; protect democratic institutions and the civilian population from any terrorist attack; assist a Member State in its territory, at the request of its political authorities, in the event of a terrorist attack; assist a Member State in its territory, at the request of its political authorities, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.
And finally if we don’t like it or wish to withdraw from the European Union Article 49a of the Treaty states that: “Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.”
As with any complicated legal document there may be issues that some people may not agree with but for me this Treaty provides a glimmer of hope for the future; it shows us that the European Union is making decisions not based on the next general election but for the welfare and protection of the next generation of citizens.
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