European Referendum Campaign

The European Referendum Campaign (ERC) is an independent, Europe-wide, cross party network of NGOs and individuals which brings together campaigners to fight for democratic development within the European Union. [European Referendum Campaign, [http://www.erc2.org/10.0.html Who We Are] ] Its sole objective is to gains as many referenda on the new EU Lisbon Treaty in as many EU member states as possible. The ERC is hosted by the NGO Democracy International who also created the [http://democracy-international.org/eci.html European Citizens’ Initiative] .

History

The European Referendum Campaign began in 2002 where it focused on obtaining referenda on the European Constitution. The ERC lobbied the Convention on the Future of Europe to produce something that would be understood by the people, and regardless of the outcome of the convention, put the product to a referendum. [Sebastian Sedlmayr, [http://www.taz.de/index.php?id=archivseite&dig=2002/11/16/a0093 "Start für Referendum über EU-Verfassung"] Taz 16th November 2002]

By 2003 the campaign began to gather momentum the European Referendum Campaign joined forces with Referendum04, Vote 2004 and Trust the People, as well as many other campaigns fighting for referenda across Europe. [Philip Johnston, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/16/nref16.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/16/ixhome.html "Three in four want Euro referendum"] Telegraph 15 October 2003] By the end, the campaign was supported by 293 organisations from across Europe as well as 97 members of the Convention on the Future of Europe who drew up the original constitution. [Democracy International [http://democracy-international.org/erc.html European Referendum Campaign] ]

It was the ERC team in the Netherlands who lobbied for a referendum there. The law to pass the referendum was drafted by a member of the ERC team, Niesco Dubbelboer, who was a Dutch MP at the time. It finished in 2004.

Today

The ERC has now reformed to fight for referenda on the new EU Lisbon Treaty. [Toby Helm and Bruno Waterfield, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/19/neu119.xml "Calls for EU treaty referendum across Europe"] 20 October 2007] The ERC believes that the new treaty is the same as the previous European Constitution [Open Europe, [http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/comparative.pdf "The Constitutional Treaty: A Comparative Text"] ] and that the treaty contains fundamental changes to the framework of the EU. Therefore the consent of citizens is needed in order to legitimise treaty. The ERC does not hold a position on the treaty itself and whether or not it should be enforced. The ERC campaigns only against the undemocratic ratification process. [Please see the [http://www.erc2.org/8.0.html appeal] of the ERC]

Criticism

Many believe that the Lisbon Treaty is different from the constitution and it does not require a plebiscite. It is also believed that holding a vote on the treaty would be detrimental to the progress of the European Union. [Polly Toynbee, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2191936,00.html "We can't let the Euro-crazies drag us out of the club"] The Guardian 16th October 2007] It has been argued that the treaty is far too complex for ordinary people to vote on. They do not have the expertise necessary to make a decision on whether or not the treaty is valid. This is why people elect and pay politicians so that they can make these decisions on behalf of the people they are meant to represent. Another common criticism of referenda on the EU is that the public rarely vote on Europe and instead they vote on domestic issues, as was the case in the French referendum on the treaty. Countries could also face international political problems if the referendum returns a negative result. [Mary Fitzgerald, [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2007/1204/1196713197438.html "Yes vote for EU treaty in 'Irish interests'"] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.erc2.org/ European Referendum Campaign]
** [http://www.erc2.org/97.0.html Referendum campaigns in individual EU countries]
* [http://www.democracy-international.org/ Democracy International]