AN AMUSING POLITICAL POSTER PHOTOGRAPHED IN NEWBRIDGE - CHRISTMAS 2012
The result of the 2012 EU referendum was 60.37% in favour.
The European Budgetary Pact: A Closer Look
The European Budgetary Pact, formally known as the Stability, Coordination and Governance Treaty, was signed on 2 March 2012 in Brussels by 25 EU Member States (excluding the UK and the Czech Republic). Its goal is to enhance economic and monetary union convergence, particularly within the eurozone.
The pact mandates a balanced or surplus budget for each country's public administration, barring exceptional circumstances. It also caps the national structural deficit at 0.5% of GDP (or 1% for countries with public debt below 60% of GDP). Non-compliance triggers automatic corrective mechanisms. These stipulations, often referred to as the "budgetary golden rule," must be integrated into national legislation within a year of the treaty's enforcement, ideally as binding, permanent, and constitutional measures.
The pact takes effect upon ratification by at least 12 Member States and will become EU law in 2017. In Ireland, the Attorney General declared the treaty unrelated to the EU's general organisation, necessitating a popular vote. Ireland is the sole EU country holding a referendum on the pact, scheduled for 31 May. This vote is decisive, as the treaty's activation upon ratification by 12 members precludes an Irish veto, unlike with the Nice and Lisbon treaties.
Ireland boasts a history of eight referenda on European matters:
1972: Entry into the European Economic Union (83.1% approval)
1987: Adoption of the Single Act (69.9% approval)
1992: Maastricht Treaty (69.1% approval)
1998: Amsterdam Treaty (61.74% approval)
2001: Nice Treaty (initial rejection with 53.87% "no," followed by 62.89% approval in a 2002 revote)
2008: Lisbon Treaty (initial rejection with 53.4% "no," followed by 67.13% approval in a 2009 revote)
The European Budgetary Pact: A Closer Look
The European Budgetary Pact, formally known as the Stability, Coordination and Governance Treaty, was signed on 2 March 2012 in Brussels by 25 EU Member States (excluding the UK and the Czech Republic). Its goal is to enhance economic and monetary union convergence, particularly within the eurozone.
The pact mandates a balanced or surplus budget for each country's public administration, barring exceptional circumstances. It also caps the national structural deficit at 0.5% of GDP (or 1% for countries with public debt below 60% of GDP). Non-compliance triggers automatic corrective mechanisms. These stipulations, often referred to as the "budgetary golden rule," must be integrated into national legislation within a year of the treaty's enforcement, ideally as binding, permanent, and constitutional measures.
The pact takes effect upon ratification by at least 12 Member States and will become EU law in 2017. In Ireland, the Attorney General declared the treaty unrelated to the EU's general organisation, necessitating a popular vote. Ireland is the sole EU country holding a referendum on the pact, scheduled for 31 May. This vote is decisive, as the treaty's activation upon ratification by 12 members precludes an Irish veto, unlike with the Nice and Lisbon treaties.
Ireland boasts a history of eight referenda on European matters:
1972: Entry into the European Economic Union (83.1% approval)
1987: Adoption of the Single Act (69.9% approval)
1992: Maastricht Treaty (69.1% approval)
1998: Amsterdam Treaty (61.74% approval)
2001: Nice Treaty (initial rejection with 53.87% "no," followed by 62.89% approval in a 2002 revote)
2008: Lisbon Treaty (initial rejection with 53.4% "no," followed by 67.13% approval in a 2009 revote)
AN AMUSING POLITICAL POSTER PHOTOGRAPHED IN NEWBRIDGE - CHRISTMAS 2012