Labour Party MEP Proinsias de Rossa has said that it is entirely politically naïve to argue that a better deal could be secured for working people in any re-negotiation of the Lisbon Treaty.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin Mr de Rossa said that when the current process started in 2001 there were 11 social democratic governments in the then 15 member states. He said that now there were 17 centre right governments out of 27.
He said that it would not be possible to get a better deal for working people out of a completely changed political scenario.
“There is no way that (Italian prime minister Silvio) Berlusconi will allow increased provision for working people of the Europe. He is entirely against it”, Mr de Rossa said.
“We would be lucky to hang on to the social provisions that we have already negotiated if there was a renegotiation”, he said.
Meanwhile the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Union (Ictu) said that the differences between itself and the country’s largest trade union Siptu on supporting the Lisbon Treaty were “tactical”.
Last week Siptu said that it would not back the treaty unless the Government agreed to introduce measures to allow for unions to engage in collective bargaining with employers. Ictu has voted to support the Lisbon Treaty
“What Siptu are talking about is a matter that is absolutely germane to the treaty itself.
But it would be a very good thing if the Government did accede to that proposition but it is not something that Congress has pushed as a tactical issue”, he said.
