(AFP) – Jun 14, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been left with a big headache over the government's plans to ratify a key European Union reform treaty following its rejection by Irish voters in a referendum.

Opponents demanding a popular vote on the Lisbon Treaty here said that Ireland's "no" vote on the document meant Brown should now relent and call a referendum.

Labour promised a referendum on the EU constitution in its 2005 general election manifesto, but the constitution was later rejected by French and Dutch voters.

Brown argues that a vote is now unnecessary as the Lisbon Treaty, designed to streamline EU institutions after recent eastwards expansion, has no major implications for British sovereignty.

But opponents say the document is the defeated constitution in all but name.

The House of Lords is due to debate the treaty again Wednesday.

The process has largely gone unnoticed but now faces greater public scrutiny because of events across the Irish Sea.

The government's position is to continue the ratification process, waiting until Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen addresses a meeting of EU leaders this week to propose a way out of the apparent impasse.

For Brown, whose commitment to Europe has been questioned, the revival of a thorny European issue could not have come at a worse time.

Labour has suffered crushing electoral defeats over the last month and is at record lows in the opinion polls.

But according to John Curtice, a professor of politics at Glasgow's Strathclyde University, Ireland's decision cuts both ways.

"It might be helpful for Brown in that the UK government won't be in the position of having to ratify the Lisbon Treaty in its current form," he told AFP.

"On the other hand, it means the issue of the Lisbon Treaty will keep rumbling on and Brown probably hoped it would have been out of the way in this parliamentary session."

All 27 EU member states have to ratify the treaty. Eighteen have already done so. And despite the Irish result, the European Commission says the treaty is still "alive" and has called for ratification to continue.

The Conservatives and leading right-wing newspapers are outraged at the suggestion, particularly after the Dutch and French rejection of the constitution.

Tory leader David Cameron said it was "the height of arrogance for Gordon Brown and our government to press ahead with ratifying this treaty, flying in the face of public opinion."

"If this is not dead, we must be able to have the referendum in this country so we have the chance to pass judgment on this treaty and to put the final nail in its coffin," he said.

With a largely-Eurosceptic press and widespread doubts among the electorate about the merits of closer European integration, defeat would be almost certain.

Global Vision, a campaign group arguing for looser ties between London and Brussels, said Brown should postpone the Lords' final reading of the EU Treaty Bill to allow time to consider the changed circumstances.

"The Irish ('no') vote... will kill off this treaty in its current form," argued the group's chairman Norman Blackwell. "The UK government should take this opportunity to think again about what relationship we want with Europe.

The eurosceptic Open Europe think tank has been behind the "I want a referendum" campaign, which has more than 45,000 signatories.

Its director Neil O'Brien said the Irish rejection was "great news" and increases the pressure on Brown to let Britons have their say.

"Gordon Brown would have been home and dry if Ireland had voted 'yes'," he told AFP.

"The treaty would have gone through in Ireland and then in Britain. The question now is whether Brown is going to press ahead with ratifying it and look totally arrogant?"

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »