Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I want to make a brief comment on the confusion being once again created regarding the veto issue and then ask a specific question on the Minister's proposal on the veto. Senator Doherty outlined the Sinn Féin perspective on the veto. I welcome Sinn Féin's conversion to the view that Europe is good for Ireland and I welcome its willingness to support Ireland's membership of the broader European family. I think the Senator's comments are misleading, although they are not deliberately so.

Last week the European Commission representation in Dublin stated that confusion in the referendum debate about the Lisbon treaty's effect on the rights of individual member states to veto trade agreements requires a clear response. The response is that all member states must currently approve a trade deal between the EU and a third country, including the World Trade Organisation, for such a deal to come into effect, which is effectively a veto right. It went on to state that this right will not change under the Lisbon treaty.

Senator Doherty also referred to Article 188 of the Lisbon treaty, which states that for the negotiation and conclusion of international agreements, the Council will act by a qualified majority, but for negotiation and conclusion of agreements in trade, services and intellectual property, the Council will act unanimously. The Doha round of the WTO negotiations not only includes trade in agricultural products but also trade in non-agricultural products such as services and intellectual property. Therefore, it is a mixed agreement and under the Lisbon treaty, the Council can only adopt any deal by acting unanimously.