We shall shortly discover the true extent to which the EU respects the rule of law, as claimed on its website:

“The European Union is based on the rule of law. This means that everything that it does is derived from treaties, which are agreed on voluntarily and democratically by all member states.”

Under existing EU law, specifically Article 48 of the present Treaty on European Union, the Irish people acted legally when they chose to reject the treaty amendments proposed in the Lisbon Treaty.

On the other hand, any attempt by the EU to circumvent that “No” in order to implement those amendments would clearly be illegal under its own law.

Moreover, any kind of victimisation of the Irish people for exercising their legal right of veto would also be illegal under EU law.

The alternative to the rule of law is arbitrary rule, and if the EU is tempted down that road then many of its supporters across Europe will start to question whether their own country should remain part of it.

Dr D. R. Cooper

Maidenhead

Berkshire

England