Lisbon is vital for European social model’s future - Hanafin

Posted on 24/09/09 by Mary Hanafin During this campaign a large amount of attention is rightly being focused on the reasons why a Yes vote is essential for economic recovery and future prosperity both here and throughout Europe. However it would be great mistake to miss equally important issues which will be decided by the people next week. I have had the opportunity of talking to voters of many different backgrounds and from very different communities during this campaign and I have found that social issues are very important to them. Today I would like to address their concerns and discuss the social dimension of the European Union and why we need the Lisbon Treaty to reinforce this dimension.
At the very heart of the entire European project has been the idea that social and economic progress must go hand in hand. The Union has opened up markets, enabled commerce and powered what today remains the most significant period of growth in the history of Ireland and Europe. But it has also advanced the cause of equality, improved working conditions and powered what remains the most significant period of social progress in the history of Ireland and Europe.
While women continue to face barriers to full equality, the advances of recent decades have been no less than stunning. It was the EU which insisted that women had the right to work after marriage; the right to equal pay for equal work; the right to a decent period at home with their children after birth; and the right to be protected by strong laws against harassment. We take these things for granted today, but in Ireland and in many other countries, they came about only because of the European Union's steadfast commitment to equality and social progress.
The EU has also taken a much wider view of its social role and has been both an enabler and promoter of a wide range of actions designed to help ensure that as many people as possible benefit from increased prosperity. Through urban and rural regeneration schemes, funding for skills ranging from adult literacy to advanced training and support for many other schemes, the social dimension of the Union's work has been broad, deep and effective.
In light of this I would have to say that the attempt to dismiss the Union as a neo-liberal nightmare which is determined to undermine social supports is a travesty of the truth. Social progress has always been central to the Union and it is central to the Lisbon Treaty.
The treaty is very clear in its early sections in setting out fundamental objectives for the Union's work and giving major prominence to the cause of equality and social progress. The chief purpose of the Treaty's many reforms is to make sure that the Union can continue to fulfil its role in a time of rapid change. Making sure that the Union is fit for purpose in a globalised world is not a threat to social objectives it is essential to their achievement.
I should also mention a number of relevant points which do arise on doorsteps because of irresponsible and cynical posters.
The first is in relation to the minimum wage. Because different countries take a different approach to ensuring a basic income for all it has long been agreed that the minimum wage is decided at a national level. This is the case today and will be the case if Lisbon is ratified. Equally, there are legal structures in place to protect various industry wage agreements here while will remain fully in force. Not one single person has come forward with even the slightest argument to justify spreading fears on this point. Even the group which put up the posters is now saying that it isn't claiming the minimum wage will be reduced, it's just asking a question.
Issues of peace and international development are seen by the public as essentially social issues. The strength of support for neutrality here is testament to a core value for the people that we believe in putting the pursuit of peace at the forefront of our international relations. It's because our neutrality is so prized that so many groups try to promote an anti-EU agenda claim that Europe is trying to erode our neutrality.
As a result of the provisions of the Treaty and the new legal guarantees given to the Irish people by all of the member states of the Union, a Yes vote will ensure the most comprehensive ever protection of our neutrality. It will enable us to continue to be a country which takes the lead on peace keeping, but to retain our distinct position, especially in terms of the centrality of the UN. In terms of conscription, militarisation and mutual defence there are now absolutely explicit protections for Ireland's position. There is no doubt, a Yes is a vote for neutrality.
The strength of European cooperation on social issues is that it promotes shared values, but also accepts diversity. Just as we have a distinct position on neutrality we wish to retain our right to decide our laws in relation to the right to life. This has been fully recognised in the new guarantees.
Ultimately, this referendum is about whether or not we still believe that Europe can play a positive role in our future. Lisbon is an evolution of the model which worked so well for us in the past in order to make sure it can also work today and well into the future. In the face of many challenges, it also seeks to protect and promote the European model of social and economic development being complementary not competing objectives.
The European social model has achieved great things for half a century. If it is to survive and prosper the European Union must remain relevant and responsive. Groups and individuals who are still fighting for equal opportunities need the European Union as their ally and they need it to be reformed through the Lisbon Treaty.