Pro-Lisbon youth group, Generation Yes, said “Sinn Féin must be wearing blinkers” to claim they were the only party to underpin their stance on the Lisbon treaty with clauses.
“Generation Yes has backed up every statement in our literature and on our website with references to the Lisbon Treaty,” said Campaign Manager Bart Storan.
He responded to claims made by Sinn Féin yesterday that it was backing up its stance with clauses from the treaty, unlike Yes campaigners.
He further stated that Sinn Féin had deliberately misrepresented the articles it quoted on voting procedures by the Council of Ministers, workers’ rights, military spending and family-run farms.
The 0.8 per cent of Irish representation compared to the 17 per cent by Germany at the Council of Ministers, did not take into account the fact that this would only come into effect after an initial round of votes, according to Mr Storan.
During the initial vote each member state had equal representation and 55 per cent were required to push through new legislation.
He reiterated that the Lisbon treaty cannot affect minimum wage and cited the Charter of Fundamental Rights as further consolidating worker’s rights.
Generation Yes also said that while the treaty requires member states to increase military capabilities in terms of efficiency and pooling resources, this did not mean increased spending.
Finally commenting on the ‘crushing’ of family-run farms, the organisation said the only difference made to agricultural policies under the treaty is that the European Parliament will now vote on the budget for the Common Agricultural Policy.
This, they argued, would give more power to farmers to lobby their elected MEPs.