THE GOVERNMENT’S decision to close the National Forum on Europe, announced just before Easter after the emergency Budget, is a strange one in a year when it plans to hold another referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The forum, set up in autumn 2001 after the Nice Treaty was voted down, provided a platform for political parties represented in the Oireachtas to discuss EU affairs in a public setting with Yes and No campaigners, along with a diverse range of civil society and other organisations.
During its lifetime a clear need was identified for such a body in Irish political life, to bridge the gap between citizens and their political representatives about the meaning and effects of European integration. It had a definite if admittedly modest success in carrying out that essential task, whether by its public debates with a wider range of voices than are represented in the Oireachtas, by playing host to visitors from other EU member states, or by explaining and publicising its work. This was not limited to Dublin but regularly involved local meetings and media coverage throughout the State.
In his letter to the forum’s chairman, Dr Maurice Hayes, telling him of the Government’s decision Taoiseach Brian Cowen recognised their “immense contribution to public debate by providing a neutral space... for views about Ireland’s membership of the Union”. He now intends to explore with other party leaders how the Oireachtas can “once again assume the role as the primary forum for national debate on issues relating to our membership of the EU”. The Oireachtas sub-committee on the future of that relationship demonstrated a capacity to engage with a wide range of voices last autumn, he said.
That is certainly true, but it leaves open the question of whether and how the Oireachtas can take on this role in the short time between now and the Lisbon referendum expected next October. Its members are preoccupied by the economic crisis and its parties are facing European and local elections on June 5th. There will be precious little time for them to engage with the public between now and the referendum other than by campaigning. Although most of them supported the Lisbon Treaty last year, they spectacularly failed to deliver an effective campaign in its favour.
If Fianna Fáil and the Greens do as badly as expected in the June elections because their taxation, spending and banking policies are so unpopular, how easy will it be to mobilise for a referendum on Lisbon? Will voters not be tempted to punish them a second time? Or will the shift in favour of the treaty registered in recent polling continue because many more people are now aware of how crucial full membership of a well-functioning EU is for Ireland’s national survival?
These questions can only be resolved by a vigorous and convincing public campaign by the Government and a much greater civil society mobilisation than is yet apparent. The National Forum on Europe’s respected independent role will be missed, even if it could never be a substitute for political engagement with the public.