Declan Ganley & Libertas: A question of credibility

Since I am for democratic EU reform, I should welcome the general drift of chairman Declan Ganley’s statements about what Libertas stands for.

Why do I need convincing?

It started with the campaign against the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland.

Their ‘8 reasons to Vote No to Lisbon’ were:

1. Creates an unelected President and a Foreign Minister of Europe
2. Halves Ireland’s voting weight while doubling Germany’s
3. Abolishes Ireland’s Commissioner for five years at a time
4. Opens the door to interference in tax and other key economic interests
5. Hands over power in 60 areas of decision making to Brussels
6. Gives exclusive competence to Brussels over International Trade and Foreign Direct Investment
7. Enshrines EU law as superior to Irish law
8. The Treaty can be changed without another referendum

I was writing about a number of the relevant Lisbon Treaty provisions at the time, and I found a number of Libertas’s justifications and assertions distortive and manipulative.

This opened up a credibility gap.

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Alleged Irish interests, most narrowly defined, seemed to fuel the campaign.

Where were the pro-European or pan-European visions for a strong and prosperous Europe?

The better deal for Ireland was quickly discarded after the referendum.

Ireland has been given political assurances by its EU partners, but Ganley has expanded his anti-Lisbon campaign to the whole European Union, ahead of the European elections.

Was a better deal ever a serious option or just hogwash?

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Veracity and credibility are the most important assets of a political party in its quest for hearts and minds.

The claims, programmes, recruitment, financing and procedures of a political party – especially on a moral crusade - require analysis and constructive criticism.

The right way for Libertas is not to lash out at critical comments, but to show tangible proof of improvement.

I checked Libertas’ web site this morning to find new and positive signs, but there was nothing of the kind.


Ralf Grahn

European elections 2009: Pan-European and particular procedures

The European Parliament’s improved public information about the rules for the European elections in June 2009 contains a study ‘The European elections: EU legislation, national provisions and civic participation’ well worth a look by those who are seriously interested in the issues of European level democracy.

The 91 page study was requested by the EP’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs and it was authored by Wilhelm Lehmann. The manuscript was completed in February 2009, so the information is up-to-date:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/eplive/expert/multimedia/20090303MLT50670/media_20090303MLT50670.pdf


The bulk of the publication is dedicated to fairly detailed information about the politically salient points of the electoral rules in the individual member states. There are links to national election websites and codes for those who want to dig deeper and a handy synoptic table for readers who want an overview at a glance.

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European framework

The short first three Chapters are of special interest from a pan-European viewpoint. After the Introduction (Chapter I), the EU framework is presented in Chapter II. An overview of electoral systems and provisions is given in Chapter III.

The study contains a summary of the failed attempts to enact a uniform electoral code for the European elections and references to the relevant legal acts which harmonise certain aspects.

EU citizenship brought about the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in the country of residence (with derogations granted to Luxembourg). The Treaty of Lisbon would clarify that MEPs represent EU citizens.

Europarties, officially political parties at European level, and their foundations are treated briefly, as well as the changing number of seats and their allocation in an expanding union.


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National systems for European elections

The third Chapter deals in summary fashion with similarities and differences between the electoral systems of the various member states: distribution of seats, preferential voting, vacant seats, electoral system, franchise, candidature, nomination of candidates, constituencies, polling days and validation of election results.


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Journalists, teachers, researchers, students, candidates and their campaign groups, political activists and interested citizens find the basic information they need in this manual (available in English).

Hopefully the European Parliament continues this trend of making its publications more readily available on-line.



Ralf Grahn