Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

When the French and Dutch spectacularly rejected the European Constitution in 2005, analysts and commentators proclaimed the death of the grandiose project.  But less than two years later, the European Union breathed life back into the corpse, recasting it as the Lisbon Treaty.  The Treaty still contains the building blocks of a United States of Europe and will shift power from member states to Brussels in critical areas of policymaking, including defense, security, and energy.

Ireland proved to be the only member state brave enough to put the Treaty to a public referendum.  Declan Ganley led the “No” campaign, arguing that the Treaty would weaken Ireland’s position in Europe, and do nothing to address democracy and unaccountability in Brussels.  Prior to Ireland’s referendum, The Times newspaper commented that in the event of a “No” vote, “there will be only one name on the lips of defeated eurocrats: Declan Ganley.”  53 percent of Irish voters resoundingly rejected the Treaty on June 12.

The Polish and Czech Governments have now proclaimed the Lisbon Treaty dead.  However, almost every other European leader has pledged to take the Treaty forward, even if Ireland’s membership in the European Union is the price to pay.  Please join us as Declan Ganley, a modern-day freedom fighter, analyzes Ireland’s democratic decision to reject the Treaty and what the EU will do next.