RTE1 (rear) title The Irish Government has failed the public and the Irish people by leaving the EU article The Irish government has failed to live up to its promises to reform its relationship with the EU, writes Conor Murphy.
RTE2 (front) title Why the Irish Government did the wrong thing by leaving EU article Ireland has been left in a lurch, writes John McTaggart.
RTE3 (rears) title How the EU can change the way it operates in Ireland: What can be done?
article The EU can, and should, be reformed.
It can help to change the terms of trade and services between the Republic of Ireland and the EU.
But, it cannot change the fact that there is no such thing as an EU-Ireland free trade agreement.
It cannot change that Ireland has failed in its duty to the EU by refusing to implement the terms agreed between the two countries, and the terms it should have been willing to agree.
If we are serious about change, it is vital that we put in place a new and improved deal for the future.
The EU cannot be reformed by the Irish government, nor should it be reformed at all.
What can be reformed?
We can and must, as we always have, and we should.
We must recognise that the EU’s position on matters like freedom of movement and the principle of subsidiarity are based on an incorrect premise.
That is why we have been working with the Irish governments, working closely with the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council, to develop a new European framework which, in the future, can be implemented on a case-by-case basis, in line with the law of the Member States.
In the meantime, we need to continue to work on the reforms necessary to ensure that the Irish economy, social cohesion and the rights of citizens are protected.
A better future will require the EU to adopt a different approach to the way we operate.
For that to happen, the EU must not have a single-minded agenda for EU integration, and must recognise the important role that the individual Member States have played in ensuring that Ireland and Europe operate in a more harmonised and open way.
There are several ways of looking at the way the EU has behaved since it entered the Lisbon Treaty.
Firstly, there is the way in which the EU treated Ireland.
This is important to understand, because it shows that the Commission has been unable to deal with Ireland on the issue of its membership.
As we all know, the Commission is not a party to the Lisbon Treaties, and it was never subject to any judicial supervision.
Therefore, there was no legal authority to intervene to prevent the Government from leaving the treaty.
Secondly, there are the decisions taken by the Commission which, even though they may have been made in good faith, have been inconsistent with the objectives of the EU treaty.
We have already discussed some of the most serious examples of this in our report on the Lisbon treaties.
Thirdly, there has been the way that the European Court of Justice has operated in relation to the Irish issue.
First, it has refused to intervene in Ireland’s internal market negotiations.
Second, it consistently rejected Ireland’s application for a “single market” that could have been a precursor to the Single Market Agreement (SMA).
Third, it applied the wrong test in Ireland to the question of whether the Irish state has a constitutional right to engage in the Single Trade Area (STA).
In these cases, the ECJ has failed us, and its failure is a serious setback to our hopes of achieving a better future for Ireland.
The fact that Ireland cannot accept that it has been treated badly is not the reason why we should not negotiate in good spirit with the rest of the European Union.
However, we should be clear that if we are to improve the EU-Irish relationship, it must be based on a new framework.
Ireland cannot, in good conscience, accept that we have not been treated fairly.
But, we must make it clear to the European People that we want them to understand that we will not take a ‘soft’ approach to Ireland, but that we intend to fight for the rights and freedoms of the Irish State.
The Government has been clear in its approach to Brexit, and, in its response to the reports, has been consistent in its call for a new approach.
We are therefore calling for the Government to:1.
Reject the EU Commission’s argument that Ireland’s withdrawal from the single market is a “double bind” which would make it impossible for it to implement its economic reforms and improve its social cohesion.2.
Recognise that the Single European Act of 2020, which will be the basis for the EU negotiating partnership with Ireland, will have to be revised to ensure the rights that Irish citizens have come to expect, as enshrined in the