Speaking for in the European Parliament for the second time, Joe Higgins opposed the nomination of Barroso and discussed the debate on Lisbon in Ireland. Here we post the transcript of his speech, to be followed soon with the video.

I oppose the nomination of Mr. Barroso as President of the Commission. Mr. Barroso is using the EU Commission to interfere with the democratic right of the Irish people to freely decide to accept or reject the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum on October 2.

With great cynicism, his Commission has sent employees of the Commission into schools all over Ireland in recent days, to speak of supposedly how good the European Union Commission is, in reality, a signal to their parents that they should vote Yes for Lisbon and a senior civil servant of the Commission has openly participated in public rallies of organisations campaigning for the Lisbon Treaty. Li

ke Caesar Augustus, Mr. Barroso is sending his emissaries to tell the Irish people what they should do. Now, we will on embark on democratic debate with anybody, but it is a gross abuse of taxpayers’ funds that civil servants should intervene on one side of this debate.

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