The President of the Czech Republic has described Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty as a “victory of freedom and reason over artificial elitist projects and European bureaucracy” which should stop the process of ratification.
However, a somewhat bizarre joint statement by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President stated: “We took note of the democratic decision of the Irish people with all due respect even though we regret it very much.” The statement then went on to claim: "We are convinced that the agreed reforms included in the Lisbon Treaty are necessary to make EU more democratic and more efficient and that they will enable Europe to meet the challenges confronting the European citizens."
I am probably not alone in thinking it a little disingenuous to claim to respect the decision of the Irish people then claim that it will make the EU ‘more democratic’ to ratify a treaty that has been resoundingly rejected by the one people who were given a say on the matter.
