Sir, - The article by Andy Storey, chairman of AfrI, in your edition of May 31st is misleading in a number of respects:
He states that the information booklet published by the Referendum Commission does not refer to enlargement. In fact the booklet Your Voice, Your Choice - the only publication from the commission dedicated to explaining the treaty - not only acknowledges the view of all the existing member-states that the treaty is necessary to allow an enlarged union to function properly, but actually lists the countries with which negotiations are currently under way. This, quite appropriately, appears in a chapter entitled "Outline of the Purpose of, and Background to, the Treaty of Nice".
The attempt to pretend that the Treaty is not about enlargement is, of course, central to the argument of the No campaign. If that is disproved, there is little behind which their latent hostility to the entire concept of the European Union can be concealed. In fact, those who have actually read the Treaty will know it is about enlargement, literally from beginning to end. The preamble states unambiguously that its purpose is "to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam of preparing the institutions of the European Union to function in an enlarged Union".
Annexed to the treaty is the Protocol on Enlargement of the European Union, which indicates the detailed institutional arrangements which will apply in the context of enlargement. Only those who do not wish to know can claim that the treaty is not about enlargement.
Mr Storey seeks to give readers the impression that additional provisions with regard to co-operation on armaments were agreed at Nice. This is not the case. There is nothing new on armaments in the Nice Treaty. The text he quotes is from the Treaty of Amsterdam, already approved by the Irish people in 1998. In the EU, Ireland has been active in pressing for more stringent controls on arms exports. An EU Code of Conduct in this area has been introduced.
It is clearly important that the Irish people have the benefit of an informed debate before taking a decision with significant implications for our national interests. The provision of misleading information by those advocating rejection of the Treaty does no service to the Irish people at this vital time. - Yours, etc.,
Declan Kelly, Press Counsellor, Department of Foreign Affairs, Iveagh House, Dublin 2.
