EU Affairs
Malta affected by Irish rejection of Lisbon Treaty
By MaltaMedia News
Jun 14, 2008 - 11:20:58 AM

Malta is affected by the Irish rejection of the EU Lisbon Treaty as new provisions negotiated by the government and included in the treaty will not come into effect as expected next January, says a report in The Times of Malta

According to the report, one of the first effects will be that Malta will lose its sixth seat in the European Parliament provided for through the new treaty.

A majority of Irish people - 53.4 percent - voted against the EU's Lisbon treaty in Thursday's referendum, while 46.6 percent voted in favour, according to final results released Friday. Participation was at 53.13 percent.

  Maltese MEP Simon Busuttil, quoted by The Times, called the result very disappointing. "It is bad news for Europe and bad news for Malta as we now stand to lose our sixth seat in the European Parliament," he said when contacted.

"There is no question that the Irish 'no' vote puts the entire ratification process in trouble. Perhaps the time has come for countries who want to take European integration forward to be able to do so without being held hostage by recalcitrant countries." Member states who did not want to go along should be free to do so but why should they be able to stop all the rest from moving on, he asked. "Perhaps it is time for them to decide whether they want to stay in the European Union.", he went on to say.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg was equally disappointed, The Times reports. "The more vociferous 'no' vote has won because of the low turnout," Dr Borg told timesofmalta.com. He said that unless the new impasse was resolved within about six months, the allocation of Malta's sixth seat in the European Parliament as from the next elections was unlikely to happen.

Meanwhile, according to a report in EUObserver, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen has said that his country's referendum on the Lisbon Treaty result must be respected, but was unclear on whether to rule out a second referendum on the document, reports the EU news site, EU Observer.

"In a democracy, the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box is sovereign. The government accepts and respects the verdict of the people," he told reporters in a first public statement just minutes after the final results were announced giving the No side an emphatic victory.

"Once again in Europe, a treaty supported by the leaders of all member states has been unable to secure popular support in a ballot", the prime minister said. "We must not rush to conclusions. The Union has been in this situation before, and each ti

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