Sir, - Anthony Coughlan's article in your edition of June 25th completely misses the unique opportunity that the EU represents. The EU is not merely a treaty of convenience between nation states.
It is a process that has transformed, and continues to transform, an entire continent. It must be remembered when we look at the seemingly intractable conflicts of the African continent that Europe was in exactly the same situation before the inception of the EU.
The period of peace enjoyed by Western Europe since the Treaty of Rome is unprecedented in European history. From the pax Romana to the Conference of Vienna to the Treaty of Versailles, any period of peace has been transitory, punitive and arbitrary. Those opposed to the Nice Treaty and all that it represents are guilty of limited imaginations. They persist in viewing the world in terms of nation-states, not realising that these are a relatively modern invention. They are merely another type of amalgamated interests. Their only moral weight is the emotional and spiritual investment people have been educated into giving them.
There is no rational difference between a democracy of some 4 million people and one with 400 million or even one of 4 billion citizens. Becoming emotional about abstract notions of sovereignty or abstract lines on a map are not the hallmarks of a civilisation moving forward. They are mere extensions of tribalism and xenophobia.
I will be voting Yes in the next Nice referendum, just as I did in the previous one. I do so in the hope that one day an Irish person, proud to be European, will be voting in worldwide elections, because then and only then will issues of neutrality, military alliances and sovereignty be consigned to the pages of history. - Yours, etc.,
PAUL BOWLER
Grosvenor Park,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.
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Sir, - In the matter of the Nice Treaty, there appears to be a dog and tail situation. Our Government, most of our politicians and opinion formers, as well as political leaders throughout the EU, seem to believe that the Irish people who voted against the Nice Treaty are the tail attempting to wag the European dog.
On the other hand, the No voters appear to believe that they represent the majority of the European electorate and that the proponents of the Nice Treaty are in fact the appendage on the rear end of the aforementioned animal.
There is a simple way to resolve this problem. A few months ago our esteemed leader, speaking about the need to reverse the result of the referendum, said: "Our partners will help in every way they can." Well, now's their chance! Although none of our European partners require referendums on this matter, I am sure that were Bertie to request each country to hold a referendum on the Nice Treaty this autumn, prior to our own second bite of the cherry, they would be pleased to respond affirmatively in order to demonstrate, once and for all, that our No voters are the tail on the European dog.
Naturally, as a result of the expected ringing endorsement by the entire EU electorate, Irish No voters would realise the error of their ways and that morally they could not continue to hold up the onward march of the European Union and would thus vote overwhelmingly in favour of the treaty.
With this simple solution there would be no need for Brussels bureaucrats and their government ministers to bother themselves in attempting to come up with an acceptable wording or protocol.
Just keep it simple! - Yours, etc.,
ROBERT McKEOWN,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.
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Sir, - I am never quite sure whether Vincent Browne actually believes what he says in his Irish Times columns, with his many internal contradictions and logical somersaults, whether he simply loves the argumentative joust for its own sake. His column of June 26th Treaty is typical.
He proposes that the EU should determine, by its own treaty law, that national parliaments should "mandate" ministers for policy and legislative decisions taken in the EU.
What this would mean in practice is that the European Court of Justice - which adjudicates on EU treaty law - would become a judicial referee in national parliamentary government. This would, in brief, create a European constitutional monster blundering through national parliamentary government in Europe.
Other national parliaments - such as Denmark's - have very effective controls over their national ministers in conducting EU business and certainly have no need of Mr Browne's peculiar constitutional nostrums. The Oireachtas is a glaring and offensive exception, but the fault rests in Dublin, not Brussels. - Yours, etc.,
Dr BEN TONRA,
Deputy Director,
Dublin European Institute,
Dublin 4.