Member-State Referendums and Constitutional

Change: The Wider Implications for the EU

Brigid LaffanDirector

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Date Treaty Yes No Turnout

10.05.72 Accession 83.1 16.9 70.9

26.05.87 SEA 69.9 30.1 44.1

18.06.92 TEU 69.1 30.9 57.3

22.05.98 Amsterdam 61.7 38.3 56.2

07.06.01 Nice 1 46.1 53.9 34.8

20.10.02 Nice 2 62.9 37.1 48.5

12.06.08 Lisbon 1 46.6 53.4 53.1

02.10.09 Lisbon 2 67.13 32.87 53.13

31.05.12 Fiscal Compact

60.29 39.71 50.6

• 9 Referendums/ largest number of all member states

• 7 Yes/2 No

• Bunreacht na hÉireann: Article 29.4.3° enabling the laws of the then European Communities entering into the Irish legal system (Third amendment of the constitution)

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Ireland

• 1987 the Supreme Court deliberated on Crotty v. An Taoiseach.– Crotty Judgement has had major effects – Crotty renders a constitutional amendment

necessary in Ireland whenever the Government wishes the State to ratify a Treaty which in the view of the Irish courts would go beyond the ‘essential scope’ or ‘objectives’ of the existing Treaties

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Ireland: A Referendum Country

• Negotiations in the shadow of a referendum

• Impact of Outcome (Yes/No)

• A ‘No’ becomes a European Question

• Response to a ‘No’

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Implications For the Wider EU

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In the Aftermath of a No

• Outside-In Dynamic

• Domestic Dynamics

• Inside-out Dynamics

• Inside-Out Dynamics

• One Commissioner per Member State

• Declaration on Workers’ Rights

• Clarification on issues of domestic and specific interest

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The New Deal

• More Knowledge about the EU?

• Ownership of decisions-deliberaton over a short time framework but intense

• Consent of the People

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The Value of Direct Democracy

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