Voting YES to Lisbon will make the EU more democratic.

It will make the EU more transparent, with the Council, the most important EU body, having to hold their meetings in public.

It will allow the European Parliament to expand its role so that your directly elected represenatives have a greater say in EU policy making.
It will force our national parliament to take a greater role in reviewing European legislation by ensuring that all legislation is reviewed in domestic legislatures before being passed in Brussels.

If you think that the EU needs democratic reform, the Lisbon Treaty provides for you. All decisions will have to be made in the open, and our elected representatives will be forced to let us know why they voted a certain way.

Articles:

• Under Lisbon, the European Parliament, whose members you elect, will decide on 95% of legislation and approve 100% of the budget. (Article 314)
• Further, the council will meet in the open (Article 16.8), allowing us to see how our government is working on our behalf.
• Voting Yes means that the EU will have to respond to a petition signed by citizens across Europe. Issues you care about will be considered. (Article 11 TEU)
• Every EU law will need to comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The charter is a statement of values and principles that are already common to member states. It will only apply EU law. (Article 51, Charter on Fundamental Rights)
• National Parliaments will have a greater role in oversight of EU decisions, with a formal process for reviewing all proposals. For instance, all EU regulation will be checked by the Oireachtas. (Article 12 TEU)
• For the first time, our representatives in the Dáil will be provided with all legislation 8 weeks before it is decided upon and will have access to a new “Yellow-card” mechanism. (Protocol 1, Article 4)

Further Information:

Citizens Initiative

Power to the People

On October 2nd, Vote YES to Lisbon

(for more information, click on each banner)