La phrase du jour 28/06/08 - Jean-Pierre Jouyet
"Le rôle des néo-conservateurs américains dans le référendum irlandais a été quelque chose de tout à fait important"
"L'Europe reste un combat, l'Europe a des ennemis qui sont puissants et on l'a vu avec le référendum irlandais, qui sont dotés de moyens financiers tout à fait importants, qui viennent non pas d'Europe mais de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique... Le rôle des néo-conservateurs américains dans le référendum irlandais a été quelque chose de tout à fait important"
Jean-Pierre Jouyet, secrétaire d’Etat chargé des Affaires Européennes, qui s'exprimait dans le cadre de la deuxième édition des Etats généraux de l'Europe, à Lyon (source AFP).
Paranoïa ? Jean-Pierre Jouyet a certainement raison sur l'activisme néocon en Europe (voir ci-dessous). Il ne faudrait cependant pas oublier qu'en retour, le camp du Oui a montré son incapacité la plus totale à défendre ses positions et à mener une campagne digne de ce nom.
En témoigne un sondage assez complet de Gallup qui détaille les raisons du non irlandais au Traité de Lisbonne. Cette enquête a été commanditée par la Représentation de la Commission européenne en Irlande.
Ses enseignements principaux en sont :
- 52% des abstentionnistes affirment ne pas avoir complètement compris l'enjeu du référendum. 42% affirment ne pas avoir été suffisamment informés sur ses conséquences. Et 37% disent ne pas avoir été assez informés de son contenu.
- 64% des 18-24 ans se sont abstenus, contre seulement 31% des 55 ans et plus.
- 57% des partisans du oui estiment que la campagne des nonistes a été la plus efficace. Dans l'ensemble, 68% des votants partagent cette opinion.
Dixit Jean-Claude Juncker : "On peut gagner un référendum, c'est faisable. Il faut juste se battre, et encore se battre"
Lire un commentaire néocon :
Ireland Saves Europe From Itself
Nile Gardiner, the Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, June 17, 2008"...The Treaty, a reheated version of the European Constitution, which was originally rejected by voters in France and Holland in 2005, is a blueprint for a European superstate with major implications for the EU’s 27 member states. It has all the trappings of supra nationalism, creating an uber-government including an EU foreign minister and permanent president as well as an EU diplomatic corps and pan-European magistracy. If enacted it would threaten the very fabric of the transatlantic alliance, from the Anglo-American special relationship to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as well as a host of major bilateral relationships between Washington and European capitals.
The Treaty's defeat should be celebrated by all who believe in the principle of national sovereignty and the right of individual peoples to shape their own future. It should be warmly welcomed by the United States as a sign that the spirit of freedom is still alive and well in Europe. It is in America’s interests to have a Europe of sovereign states that can work together with the U.S. when and where they choose to do so, without being subject to dictats from Brussels..."
Lire également :US Neocons Accused of Role in Irish 'No' Vote
Spiegel 25/06/08"Did neo-cons from the United States fund the campaign in Ireland to reject the Lisbon Treaty? Accusations to that effect are widespread -- particularly given the business contacts of a leading group in the "no" camp.
The words were clear: "Europe has powerful enemies on the other side of the Atlantic, gifted with considerable financial means." The speaker was France's Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet, addressing a pro-European rally in Lyon at the weekend.
He was putting the blame for the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty on some surprising shoulders: neoconservatives in the United States. "The role of the American neocons was very important in the victory of the 'no,'" he said.
A voice of paranoia from old Europe? Perhaps. But the allegations are not exactly new. Those campaigning for a "yes" vote in the Irish referendum on June 12 had made similar suggestions in the run up to the vote.
One of the most powerful groups campaigning against the treaty was Libertas, which describes itself as a "new European movement dedicated to campaigning for greater democratic accountability and transparency in the institutions of the EU." The group had said that its main gripe with the Lisbon Treaty had been that it was anti-democratic and could undermine Irish business interests.
Libertas claimed it spent €1.3 million on its campaign, though its opponents speculate the total might be even higher. In contrast, the ruling Fianna Fail party was estimated to have spent around €700,000 on its "yes" campaign.
There has been much speculation about where exactly the Libertas funding came from. The group's founder Declan Ganley is an Irish millionaire who is also CEO of Rivada Networks, a telecommunications company which has worked with the US military. The company's Web site says that it is a "leading designer, integrator and operator of public safety communications and information technology networks for homeland security forces and first responders."
A member of the center-right Fine Gael party, Lucinda Creighton, said before the referendum that the businesses of Ganley and Ulick McEvaddy, an aviation millionaire who was also involved in the "no" campaign, were "heavily dependent on contracts from the US State Department, the Pentagon and US government agencies." She went on to say: "These men are a lot less concerned about Irish sovereignty than they are about the potential hit to their own personal business interests."
However, Ganley rejected any allegation that US funding was behind his campaign. Before the referendum he told the Irish Independent newspaper: "I am funding it and so are a lot of other people. We have a donations facility online. .. There are some wonderful people that are stepping forward and writing checks."...
...Comments from a controversial former US diplomat before the referendum have added fuel to the conspiracy theory. John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, was in Dublin to deliver a speech on trans-Atlantic relations a week before the vote. He warned that the treaty could "undercut NATO," something that would be a "huge mistake." According to Bolton, known for being one of Washington's most outspoken hawks, if the EU had its own military capability people will think NATO redundant and that Europeans "can take care of their own defense."..."
