Irish Business and Employers' Confederation

Submission to the National Forum on Europe

IBEC’s position on the Lisbon Reform Treaty

April 2008

IBEC has been following the development of the Lisbon Reform Treaty and has evaluated the final published text.

Institutional Arrangements

Arrangements in the Nice Treaty would not have withstood the test of time. For any state or international organisation to work to the best of its ability, effective and efficient institutions must be set in place. IBEC supports the efforts made to clarify responsibilities and prepare the European Union for the future. Key amongst the proposed changes to institutional arrangements:

• Ireland will have twelve seats in the European Parliament for the 2009-14 session.
• Ireland is guaranteed a Commissioner in the 2009-2014 College of Commissioners, and after that the College will be reduced and the seats rotated on a strict basis of equality all Member States.
• The powers of the European Parliament are extended giving it equal powers to the Council of Ministers for a significant number of EU decisions.
• The way in which Qualified Majority Voting is calculated is changed with the introduction (from 2014) of a double majority voting system. At the same time unanimity voting will be continued in particularly sensitive areas, e.g in relation to taxation.
• A President of the European Council will be appointed, bringing greater continuity and consistency
• Importantly, under new rules, the role of National Parliaments is strengthened.

All of these changes taken together give us a balanced, comprehensive and most importantly durable blueprint for the European Union.

Key Policy Changes

Whilst the institutional changes are very important, a number of other changes made in the Treaty of Lisbon are key for the business community.

• Amongst the ‘objectives’ of the Union, the goals of a ‘highly competitive social market economy’, ‘price stability’ and ‘balanced economic growth’ are affirmed. This is important for companies, and consistent with the goals of the Lisbon Strategy and Growth Pact.
• In key areas for Irish business a decision will only be agreed if all member states approve. This means that any member state will have a veto on decisions in relation to Taxation, including Corporation Tax, key areas of Social Security Policy and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
• The Lisbon Reform Treaty reaffirms commitments to the harmonisation of world trade, the abolition of restrictions on international trade and the lowering of customs tariffs and barriers. The Lisbon Reform Treaty also contains a commitment to cooperate with third countries and to provide development aid (Art. 129). Stable and flourishing emerging economies are good for European and Irish trade because they provide new export markets and opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment.
• The Lisbon Reform Treaty lays down the objective of high level employment. To this end, the Treaty prescribes that Member States and the European Union shall develop a coordinated strategy for employment (Art. 146). One reason for Ireland’s economic success has been the coordination of employment guidelines at European level and the exchange of best practice among EU Member States.
•  The Lisbon Reform Treaty implements energy security as a policy of the European Union (Art. 194) and refers to a spirit of solidarity between member states when it comes to difficulties in energy supply. The Lisbon Reform Treaty also promotes the interconnection of energy networks. A yes vote for the Lisbon Treaty will assist Ireland in meeting the well documented challenges for this country in this area and create new jobs in this important field.
• Through our membership of the EU many markets have been subject to liberalisation and through this process new business opportunities have been created for Irish companies. The Lisbon Reform Treaty creates the legal basis for the liberalisation of services of general economic interest (Art. 106). A yes vote for the Lisbon Treaty creates the potential for increased opportunities for Irish business particularly in areas subject to increasing liberalisation such as Health, Education, Transport, Energy and the Environment.

Conclusion

Irelandis one of the most globalised economies in the world: Irish business fully understands the importance of European integration to national prosperity and is thus deeply committed to the EU project.

The Treaty of Lisbon has an important role to play in enabling the European Union to address major challenges that lie ahead – for all of these reasons IBEC endorses the Lisbon Reform Treaty and strongly supports its adoption in the forthcoming referendum in Ireland.