McCreevy criticised for his Ignorance

Ireland's EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy (right) has been heavily criticised for not reading the Lisbon Treaty prior to the Irish referendum.

At a news conference in Luxembourg Martin Schulz (below left), leader of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, rounded on McCreevy, the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services. The German Socialist and veteran MEP said he was particularly disappointed by Mr. McCreevy's public statement [live on RTE] that he had not read the Lisbon Treaty.

"We have to ask Mr. Barroso [the President of the EU Commission] what kind of people he has in his Commission, particularly if you have someone acting as the deregulation Pope in Europe who goes home and says he hasn't read the treaty and doesn't understand it," Schulz said. He added that the NO vote of the Irish people "has to be taken very seriously".

Meanwhile Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has called for a "multi-speed Europe". At a meeting of the Federalist Club, which promotes the idea of a 'United States of Europe', Juncker said he accepted the decision of the Irish people, but the will of "one small EU member state should not block the progress of the whole union". The majority of EU countries wished to move forward, and they would find ways to do it, "regardless of those who prefer to stay behind".