Lisbon: the nuclear option

Quentin Peel in the Financial Times has been doing a nice job with occasional look-ins at the referendum campaign and prospects.  Today he goes through the options that none of the EU governments or the EU institutions want to talk about: what happens if the treaty is rejected?  He sets out 4: an added Ireland-only protocol with a revote, renegotiation, fait accompli (where the 26 would act as if it was ratified and leave Ireland to find its own solution), or dumping the entire treaty.  He also looks at the very specific headaches it would create for Gordon Brown, where parliamentary ratification will be contentious.   Particularly interesting is his view that Lisbon is an unloved project among the large member states, who might not shed too many tears with a walk-away.   Note also the latest noises about another referendum (after the brief prospect of one in Poland): now Italy might have one.


from P O'Neill @ Irish Election







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