VOA标准英语2009年-Ireland Votes on EU Treaty

By Selah Hennessy
London
02 October 2009

 
A voter casts their vote in north Dublin, 02 Oct 2009
Irish voters headed to the polls Friday to decide on a referendum on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty. Observers say turn-out has been slow on a vote that will affect the whole of the European Union.

The Lisbon Treaty is set to tighten¹ the existing structure of the European Union to strengthen its leadership and international clout². All 27 EU members must ratify³ it before it can come into force. But last year Irish voters rejected the treaty. Now, they are back at the polls for a second vote.

Hugo Brady is from the Brussels-based research group Centre for European Reform. He says last time round the details of the treaty were not made clear to the Irish public and there were many issues which led to the 'no' vote.

"One of which was the treaty would bring in conscription to foreign armies in Ireland, which was not true. Also that Ireland would lose its veto over taxation⁴, over its abortion⁵ policy, and that the country would no longer have a right to nominate a commissioner⁶ to the European Commission, which is the EU's kind of chief legislative⁷ body," he said.

Brady says many of those issues have now been resolved.

Most importantly, he says, Ireland has been guaranteed continued representation at the European Commission.

And certain issues close to the heart of the Irish public have been safeguarded.

"Ireland's traditional vote bearers of family law, neutrality, and taxation - the Irish received legal guarantees that nothing would affect their prerogatives⁸ in those areas," he said.

He adds that the global financial crisis has convinced many Irish people that they can benefit from being part of the EU.

"Europe has been good for Ireland because Ireland is in the midst of a very painful recession and its economic reliance on the EU has been revived in people's minds," he contninued.

A voter prepares to cast their ballot⁹ in north Dublin, 02 Oct 2009
But Brady warns the possibility of the referendum failing cannot be ruled out.

Marco Incerti, from the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies, says this vote is crucial to the European Union.

"If it is a yes it will remove one of the last remaining obstacles on the road to ratification¹⁰ of the treaty," he said.

But he says Ireland is not the last obstacle. He says another big problem is that the president of Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus has also not signed.

"even if there is a yes in Ireland there may be additional problems for the treaty of Lisbon because it would be necessary to wait for President Klaus of the Czech republic to finally put his signature to this treaty for it to finally come into force," said Incerti.

The Lisbon Treaty is intended to speed up decision-making in the EU. Leadership will be centralized with a long-term European Council president and stronger foreign policy chief.

Irish polls close Friday night and counting will take place across the country Saturday.

A final national result is expected to be officially announced in the capital Dublin on Saturday.

1 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

2 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

3 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

4 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

5 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

8 prerogatives   

n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭

参考例句：

• The tsar protected his personal prerogatives. 沙皇维护了自己的私人特权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Congressmen may be reluctant to vote for legislation that infringes the traditional prerogatives of the states. 美国国会议员可能不情愿投票拥护侵犯各州传统特权的立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

10 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。