Lisbon Treaty

Commenting on the result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-presidents of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, said:

"The Greens wholeheartedly welcome the convincing yes vote from Ireland. This paves the way to securing the Treaty that an EU of 27 Member States needs if it is to be better equipped to face these current times of global crisis. We must now close the final remaining stages of the ratification process as quickly as possible.

Only the Czech President Vaclav Klaus is persisting in blocking this process. Europe must now exert pressure on him to give up his twisted policy of obstruction, which may cost the Czechs their Commissioner in the new Commission.

The Lisbon Treaty strengthens democracy in Europe. The EU Parliament must however exercise its new co-decision powers confidently and not content itself with playing second fiddle to the Council, as it has on occasion in recent times.

Pro-Europeans cannot afford to be complacent after this Irish yes vote. Now is time to write a new chapter and truly create a Europe of citizens."