The people of Ireland have The people of Ireland have spoken. They have voted yes. Yes for themselves and yes for the rest of Europe. The yes vote in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is not just excellent news for Ireland but for all of us members of the European Union.

When ratified, the treaty will change the way the European Union works by amending the treaty on European Union and the treaty establishing the European Community.

Prominent changes that will be instigated by the Lisbon Treaty include more qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers, increased involvement of the European Parliament in the legislative process through extended co-decision with the Council of Ministers, the elimination of the pillar system, the prevention of the provision in the Treaty of Nice reducing the number of commissioners, and the creation of a President of the European Council with a term of two and half years and a High Representative for Foreign Affairs to present a united position on EU policies. The Treaty of Lisbon would also make the Union’s human rights charter and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, legally binding.

In a nutshell, the stated aim of the treaty is “to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam and by the Treaty of Nice with a view to enhancing the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union and to improving the coherence of its action”.

The Lisbon Treaty was initially rejected by Irish voters in June 2008. But it received overwhelming support in a second referendum ten days ago. Now we can start looking forward to the Treaty coming into effect.

The Treaty has already been approved by Parliament in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

After the Irish ‘yes’, we look forward to the remaining treaty approvals by the Czech government.

The future of the European Union following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty was discussed during a national conference organised by MEUSAC last week.

During the discussion it clearly emerged that the Treaty will create a new balance within the European Union. This is a balance between a stronger unity within the Union and, on the other hand, the safeguarding of traditions and diverse cultures that distinguish the nations and nationals that make up our Europe.

The treaty will give us the space to collaborate closer with the other Member States and, as a result, we will be able to exert stronger pressure and influence decisions that, in today’s globalised world, will affect us, the rest of Europe and, indeed, the world.

At the moment we are facing a number of challenges. Challenges and problems whose roots may be thousands of kilometres away but still impinge on us and our future. The humanitarian crisis in Africa has resulted in an immigration problem for us and a number of Mediterranean countries. The Middle East crisis affects the price of oil and our electricity bills. And an economic crisis stemming from the USA destabilises our labour market.

We have to face these challenges today and the Lisbon Treaty will help us do so. These are common European challenges and the treaty will see that Europe tackles these problems as one while respecting the particular characteristics and necessities of individual member states.

Today’s challenges are different from those faced by Europe yesterday. Europe has realised that we cannot face today’s challenges using yesterday’s tools. The Lisbon Treaty will reform the institutions of the European Union and in so doing will provide new tools for the new challenges.

Malta stands to gain in a special way through the ratification of the Treaty. The Treaty will give Malta another seat in the European Parliament, will confirm a Maltese Commissioner in the European Commission, will strengthen the European Parliament and will also empower our national Parliament.

The tools are there. It will now be up to us to employ them wisely in order to face and surmount the challenges facing us – globalisation, demographic instability, immigration, climate change, the use of alternative energy, the economic crisis and new security threats.

Chris Said is parliamentary

secretary at the Office of the

Prime Minister