There are many loose ends to tie up after 2 October and we must assess the changes needed to effectively communicate Europe to its citizens. European People’s Party (EPP) Secretary-General Antonio Lopez Isturiz told New Europe: “Now, with the new Commission, the time has come for the EU to launch a communication policy that will defend Europe, not just in Brussels but in each and every member state. This is a job that can be easily done by all the European-level parties that promote the European project. Through political debate we are also defending the European idea. The battle front is in the member states, not in Brussels.”
Indeed, European political parties, even though they are allowed to campaign for the European elections, are not permitted to campaign in national referenda even if they concern an EU-related issue such as the Lisbon Treaty. If you walk the streets of Dublin, you will see in the various campaign posters of Irish parties the logos of the European political families, but that’s all. This was a rule introduced by the Brussels nomenclatura and continues to be in force. The truth is that EU civil servants, in order to maintain maximum control of the political making, have imposed such rules and many MPs and MEPs are not aware of such provisions because they are active in their respective regions. Various opinion-makers from European parties and/or their groups seem to be silently accepting such rules.
Yet it is now time to review the political framework of referenda communication and Antonio Lopez-Isturiz has set the tone of the change that Europe needs. In this context, it is not coincidental that the European Commission announced last week EU funding of €14.8 million to help 2,400 former Dell workers in Ireland find new jobs.
Regardless, however, of technical limitations, there was  political ‘hyper-activity’ last week in Dublin. First to visit was Party of European Socialists President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, who campaigned in the streets of Dublin, accompanied by Irish Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore. Rasmussen said: “The economic crisis did not happen because Irish workers are lazy. I understand that the voters are angry with their government, but they should not make the mistake to vote ‘no’ to the referendum. Ireland needs its neighbours to fight the crisis, because together, we are stronger. The only answer is a massive ‘Yes’ on 2 October.“
European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso has also visited Dublin to support the ‘Yes’ vote. Before leaving Dublin  for the G20 meeting in the United States, said Barroso: “The only way to ensure that Ireland will always have a commissioner is to vote ‘Yes’ to Lisbon. If not, of course we have to reduce the amount of commissioners.” This is in the current treaties and we are legally obliged to do it.” As it seems, since Ireland is likely to approve the Lisbon Treaty, the president’s advice was directed at the Czech President Vaclav Klaus  who has not signed the ratification of the Treaty as yet and is waiting for the UK general election, election, due in June 2010, to make his final decision. Under the circumstances, we now know which country will have no commissioner if the Treaty fails to be adopted. Last but not least was the visit to Dublin by EPP President Wilfried Martens, who campaigned for a clear ‘Yes to Lisbon’ together with Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny. A different tone in the campaign was provided by the Co-president of the Group of Freedom and Democracy in the European Parliament, Nigel Farage, who, in a long letter to Parliament Secretary-General Klaus Welle, confused gifts offered to officials with free tickets for empty seats on the condition recipients pay the airport taxes on flights to Member States given to election and referenda campaigners.