The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, expressed regret at the 'no' vote in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and called on the European Heads of State and Government, meeting next week in Brussels, to discuss solutions in this situation, according to Deutschlandradio Kultur.
Hans-Gert Pöttering said the following:
'It is of course a great disappointment for all those who wanted to
achieve greater democracy, greater political effectiveness and greater clarity
and transparency in decision-making in the European Union that the majority of
the Irish could not be convinced of the need for these reforms of the European
Union. We must not forget, however, that the European Union has experienced
crises and times of difficulty several times before. Today, as in the past, we
must keep a cool head.
The rejection of the Treaty text by one European Union country cannot
mean that the ratifications which have already been carried out by 18 EU
countries become invalid. The ratifications in the other EU Member States must
be respected just as much as the Irish vote. For that reason, the ratification
process must continue in those Member States which have not yet ratified.
For its part, the Irish Government together with its European partners
will now be required to make proposals as to how to proceed from here. The
Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held next week in Brussels will
have to address the situation after the Irish referendum and will offer the
Irish Government an opportunity to take stock and put forward proposals.
We must now calmly reflect on how to proceed. The reform of the European
Union is important for citizens, for democracy and transparency. Therefore I
hope that it will be possible to find a solution so that reforms can come into
force by the time of the European elections in June 2009.'