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For weeks journalists have been pressing the spokesman for the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on what would happen if the Irish voted No in a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Jose Manuel Barroso said countries should continue to ratify the treaty But there was no answer. "There is no plan B!" we were told. To be honest, it began to sound like a rather tired refrain. And - surprise, surprise - it turns out that in fact there are a number of possible plan Bs. The French - who take over the presidency of the...

reland’s referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, its latest attempt to pass a massive constitutional update, has produced a defeat. The rejection stops the EU from implementing its new constitution and forces the union to reconsider whether it can pass any expansion of the multinational government in a way that achieves unanimity: Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says substantial referendum returns show that Ireland has rejected the European Union reform treaty.Electoral officials expect to confirm the result later Friday.Ahern based his conclusion on tallies of votes produced nationally by election observers as well as early official returns.They show the “no” camp...

Substantial election returns showed Friday that Ireland's voters have rejected the European Union reform treaty, a blueprint for modernizing the 27-nation bloc that cannot become law without Irish approval. Several senior Irish government figures conceded defeat for the treaty, which would be a major blow to the EU. An EU constitution failed after French and Dutch voters rejected it in 2005. Ireland was the only member that subjected its would-be successor, the Lisbon Treaty, to a national vote. The Irish constitution requires all EU treaties to be ratified by referendum. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said he expected all other 26...

Ireland vote rejects EU treaty Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has said substantial referendum returns show that Ireland has rejected the European Union reform treaty. Electoral officials expect to confirm the result later. Mr Ahern based his conclusion on tallies of votes produced nationally by election observers as well as early official returns. They showed the "no" camp ahead in the vast majority of Ireland's 43 electoral constituencies, while pro-treaty voters were clearly ahead in only a few. The expected result will send shock waves throughout the EU. Ireland was the only member to subject the Lisbon Treaty to a...

THE LISBON Treaty could face a shock rejection with the No side now in the lead, according to the findings of the latest Irish Times /TNS mrbi poll. It will take an unprecedented swing in the last week of the campaign for the treaty to be carried. The poll shows the number of people intending to vote No has almost doubled to 35 per cent (up 17 points) since the last poll three weeks ago, while the number of the Yes side has declined to 30 per cent (down 5 points). The number of undecided voters is still a significant...

I do not argue that the problems of early 21st-century Europe are identical to those of late 18th-century America. I am now myself a federalist. Yet the Americans did have to face similar problems in trying to reconcile the relationship of the federal government with the individual states - the very questions that confront Europe in the Lisbon treaty. The American Constitution has succeeded in providing the US with a stable democratic framework that has survived the great changes of the past two centuries, including - in the 20th century - two world wars, a Cold War and a slump....

Behind closed doors, over diplomatic dinners, in the corridors of departments, embassies, ministries and chanceries, Europe’s rulers are playing a “once in a lifetime” game for the future of the European Union. As I have already noted, here and here, this is a power play to which the public is not even a spectator. Substantial negotiations are underway on the biggest European job carve up package, including Nato, in the EU’s existence. The rules of the game, the players and the running score are known only to a tiny group of EU leaders and their most senior civil servants. The...