FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING:MINISTER FOR Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has assured his increasingly anxious EU colleagues that the Government will do everything it can to persuade the public to back the Lisbon Treaty.
However, he also warned them that it is going to be a “challenging and hard-fought campaign” following opinion polls that show support for a Yes vote declined over the summer.
“We are hopeful but cautious and under no illusions it will be hard-fought campaign and there is no room for complacency,” said Mr Martin yesterday at the start of a two-day informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Stockholm.
Several EU foreign ministers asked Mr Martin for an update on the campaign following publication of an Irish Times opinion poll showing support for a Yes vote had slipped 8 percentage points over the summer.
With four weeks to go until the referendum on October 2nd the poll showed 46 per cent of people planned to vote Yes, 29 per cent said they would vote No and 25 per cent said they don’t know.
“There is anxiety and concern because they do believe the Lisbon Treaty is essential for the future development of the EU and in particular to enable the union to be a more efficient and effective actor on the global stage,” said Mr Martin, who added that he was still confident of a Yes vote.
However, there are increasing fears among EU ministers and officials that the Government’s unpopularity could prompt a No vote and plunge the EU into a new institutional crisis.
President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, who was in Stockholm to meet Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, pleaded with Irish voters not to use the referendum to punish the Government.
“People very often think that the referendum is an occasion to test government,” said Mr Buzek, who will visit Ireland on Tuesday.
“I would say that they should take the decision on the future of the EU. It’s not a test of the Irish Government.”
European Commission president José Manuel Barroso told reporters in Brussels that a referendum was always a “risky operation” because there is always a “risk of contamination by other issues”.
However, he said he was still confident of a Yes vote because the most if not all of the Irish public’s concerns about the treaty had been addressed by its EU partners.
“I think that was put in a great spirit of European solidarity, so let’s now see if the Irish people recognise that, and we have, of course, to respect their verdict,” he said.
Mr Martin downplayed the danger of the Government’s unpopularity prompting a second No vote.
“In all the opinion polls to date there has been a clear demarcation line between people’s views on party politics and the Lisbon Treaty itself. This is even true in the polls this week,” he said.