Don’t you feel too neutral regarding the crisis of the Irish ‘no’ to then Lisbon treaty?
Angel, Seville
Barroso was in Ireland three days after the German chancellor Angela Merkel (Photo: informatique/ Flickr)I do not agree. I was invited by the Irish government and visited Ireland about two months before the referendum in June. I met with different representatives from political parties and the civil society, and ‘yes’ as well as ‘no’ campaigners. I also met students from Cork College University. Some were in favour of the treaty, some weren’t. I went there to explain both my personal and professional reasons to believe that Europe needs this treaty. You can read my speech; I did not escape the hot issues such as taxation and the common agriculture policy. But ratification is decided by the member states. The European commission cannot lead an electoral campaign in Ireland – there are even legal obstacles to that.
http://www.eudebate2009.eu/eng/article/25814/barroso-president-commission-exclusive-interview.html
The president did not reply to the following questions:
Do you think that the transatlantic economic council (TEC) has a future? If so, what kinds of concrete achievements would you expect to be seen by next year that would allow it to be considered a success?
Tyson, London
Why didn’t you resign after the Irish referendum? It would have been a strong political message to the citizens.
Alexandre, Toulon
Questions collated by Adriano Farano
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