Libertas: Liars

This post has been cross posted at Re:Europa.

During the campaign in Ireland I really should have stayed on top of the issues. I just looked at the Libertas webpage and at there 8 points to say "No". Lets have a look:

1. Creates an unelected President and a Foreign Minister of Europe
The new President and Foreign Minister for Europe will be appointed by the European Council by qualified majority vote. Although many of the terms and conditions of these roles have yet to be decided, they will be committed through the Lisbon Treaty to “drive forward” the agenda of the Council and discussions have already taken place to provide a presidential palace and executive jet for the President.

What a great way to make an objective argument. First misrepresent how the President will be chosen and what is job is then claim some bullshit about where he will reside and how he will travel.

2. Halves Ireland’s voting weight while doubling Germany’s
The Lisbon Treaty would implement a new system of voting by the European Council which is primarily based on population size. This means that Ireland’s voting weight would be reduced from 2% at present to 0.8% if the Treaty was implemented, while Germany’s would increase from 8% to 17%.

Bash Germany. While at the same time lie about the voting system. There is a double majority system (number of countries and population size), therefore there is no single voting weight.

3. Abolishes Ireland’s Commissioner for five years at a time
The Lisbon Treaty proposes to reduce the number of Commissioners to two thirds of the number of member states. This would mean that, on a rotating basis, Ireland would have no seat for five years out of every 15 in the body that has the monopoly on initiating legislation. This would clearly affect a small country like Ireland to a far greater extent than, for example, Germany which is having its voting weight doubled under the Treaty.

Repeat: Bash Germany. And again tell bullshit about how losing a commissioner will affect countries. Every country will have the same amount of time a commissionar irrespective of size. And that is supposed to favor large countries!

4. Opens the door to interference in tax and other key economic interests
Article 113 of the Lisbon Treaty specifically inserts a new obligation on the European Council to act to avoid “distortion of competition” in respect of indirect taxes. The proposals for a common consolidated tax base and the commitment of the French government to pursue it combined with a weakening of Ireland’s voice in Europe through the loss of a permanent Commissioner and halving of its voting weight represent a clear and present danger to our tax competitiveness.

Again: Lie! The council can not change taxes without unanimity. All the other things they write are distractions from this central points.

And this goes on like this in this other points. Libertas are really a bunch of suckers!