Irish voters strongly approved a 27-nation treaty that would reshape EU institutions to make them more effective after a decade of eastward expansion, political leaders and analysts said after the first partial results were revealed yesterday.
Electoral officials said “yes” votes were outnumbering “no” in virtually all of Ireland’s 43 constituencies — a total reversal from the country’s stunning rejection of the Lisbon Treaty last year.
The Irish agreed to vote again after EU leaders offered key assurances designed to undermine anti-treaty arguments. The EU dropped its plans to prune the size of the European Commission, a move that would have cost Ireland its right to hold a seat continuously on the EU’s key executive body. Brussels also reiterated, in formal declarations appended to the treaty, that it would have no bearing on Ireland’s taxes, military neutrality or moral codes.
The pro-treaty camp also weighed a stronger campaign the second time around, this time backed by key figures from sports, arts and most crucially the financial world. Business heavyweights Intel and Ryanair appealed for “yes” votes as the only way to ensure that Ireland remains a favored base for foreign companies.
In the first official result from Friday’s vote, the predominantly rural South Tipperary constituency said 68.4 percent voted “yes.” Last year the same district had voted 53.2 percent “no.”
Many analysts said they were surprised to see early returns running so strongly in favor of the treaty.
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who directed the government’s campaign culminating in Friday’s referendum rerun, said it appeared certain that Ireland would ratify the treaty when full official results came later yesterday.
The treaty reached by national leaders in the Portuguese capital in 2007 spells out how the EU should reshape its decision-making, size and image in line with its growth into Eastern Europe. It proposes to increase the ability of leaders to make decisions with majority rather than unanimous votes, but also gives more influence in policy-shaping to national legislatures and the European Parliament.
The agreement requires unanimous ratification across the 27-nation bloc, and the Irish are the only ones who required its approval by popular vote. All other nations passed the treaty through their national parliaments. Only the heads of state of Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to withhold their assent, citing Ireland’s uncertain approval.
A second Irish rebuff would have killed the treaty and forced EU chiefs into uncharted diplomatic waters. Pressure would have built to chart a way forward that would not be subject to another Irish veto — the long-threatened “two-speed Europe” in which a core of like-minded nations moved ahead of naysayers like Ireland.
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