Beverley Flynn (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. It is more than 50 years since years since the original six countries sat down to form what would become the European Economic Community. Europe was still recovering from the scars of wars, wounds were still open and mutual hostility and suspicions were still rife, yet the statesmen who signed the first agreement had the vision and courage to realise a united Europe was the key to peace, prosperity and a new way forward. That European Community has changed dramatically in the past fifty years, both internally in terms of its present membership of 27 compared to the original six and externally in the context of a changing world order. New economic powers which were unheard of in 1957 have emerged and the power balance has shifted so that the east-west divide is no longer the fulcrum. No single country has the solution to the new threats facing the community. Climate change and globalisation, the divide between rich and poor and the depletion of the world's resources mean that no country is an island or is able to shirk its responsibility to the common good.

Few would deny that Ireland has benefitted substantially from our membership of the European community. Our status as one of the poorest members of Europe is a thing of the past and we are blessed with a strong economy which is the envy of many of our neighbours. This would never have happened if we did not have the courage to do the right thing at the right time. It should not be forgotten that on the day Jack Lynch put pen to paper and tied us irrevocably to Europe, dissenting voices warned that we would reap a whirlwind of economic and political disasters. We are now Europeans in the fullest sense of the word but this is a status which brings its own duties and obligations. We are once again faced with an opportunity and a challenge. We can either play a constructive role in the future shape of Europe or we can get left behind on the outside forever, while more purposeful and motivated newcomers take our place.

One of the most striking aspects of the Lisbon treaty is the determination to give smaller member states equal footing in the new Europe. Those who rail against the dominance of the bigger powers seem to forget that since 2004 the larger member states have surrendered their right to a second member on the European Commission in order to make the institution more viable. Even with that concession, however, the Commission could still be regarded as unwieldy, so the treaty recommends a rotation system which, while limiting Commission numbers, will also protect the right of each member state to nominate a commissioner on a strictly equal basis.

The Lisbon treaty has also gone into considerable detail in achieving a balance between a top heavy concentration of elected members and the need to retain a fair representation for member states. From next June, Ireland's representation will decrease from 13 to 12 MEPs but this must be viewed in light of the need to put a cap on parliamentary membership while still accommodating the member states which have acceded since our allotted membership was set at 15. No country can have fewer than six or more than 96 MEPs, regardless of population, and smaller countries will have more seats than their population would warrant. With this numerical reform will come important new powers for the Parliament which will give it shared authority with the Council of Ministers through the co-decision process. Thus, while countries like Ireland may lose out in terms of seats, we stand to gain substantially by way of increased influence in decision making.

A reassuring theme of the Lisbon treaty is its adherence to the ideal of representative democracy, that basic tenet which upholds the right of every citizen to participate in the democratic life of the Union. The fear held by many people is that as the European Union gets bigger and as they become further removed from the centre of power, so too will individual rights be diminished. This treaty is at pains to ensure that the values and democratic principles on which the EU is based will be respected. To that end, national parliaments will have a direct input into European legislation. More importantly, the EU must share power and give precedence to the principle of subsidiarity, which sets out that decisions should as far as possible be taken at local, regional or national level. Far from usurping the power and authority of national governments, the Lisbon treaty seeks to ensure power remains with the people, to be exercised by them as best they see fit.

It is important to emphasise that the European Union is not now a state nor will it be one after the Lisbon treaty comes into effect. The Union is a creation of its member states and the only powers it commands are those which have been conferred on it by its members. It has no primacy unless freely given by its constituent members. Its role is to serve the community rather than disempower national parliaments, where power ultimately resides. Like our predecessors of three decades ago, the Irish people are being asked to stand at the gate of history and say "Yes" or "No" to Europe's destiny. We are being asked to show the same courage and vision as those who first embarked on the voyage to create a stable, peaceful and prosperous Continent. We owe it to ourselves and the generations to come to show that we are not afraid to be counted as citizens of a Europe in which democracy and freedom will be the cornerstone.

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