EU-DIGEST - special edition

The Irish government, most business leaders and political parties of nearly every stripe have come out overwhelmingly in favor of the Lisbon Treaty, pointing out how Ireland's membership in the EU over the last 35 years has helped transform the Emerald Isle of 4.1 million people from an impoverished backwater dependent on Britain to one of Europe's most robust economies.But a newly vigorous opposition composed of farmers, a few wealthy businessmen with vague connections to the U.S. defense establishment and the leftist Irish republican party, Sinn Fein, have gained quickly in recent polls, and the outcome is suddenly no longer a sure thing.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen this week described the treaty, which replaces a constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, as a "major victory" for small members such as Ireland that would protect and promote their interests.
IKrish Republican Army. Irish voters go to the polls on June 12 to vote on the treaty in the only referendum planned by an EU state, meaning one of the bloc's smallest nations could sink a project designed to end years of wrangling over reform of its institutions.

Ireland, with a population of 4.2 million, votes will decide whether the European Union finally gets a full-time president and a single, more powerful, foreign policy chief. The Irish electorate will determine whether the European Union can reorganize its ramshackle internal structures and play a more influential role on the world stage or whether it will just carry on muddling through.Rarely have so few voters caused so many jitters across so many capitals.And with opinion polls showing much of the Irish electorate undecided, the possibility that the Lisbon Treaty may be rejected has sent unfamiliar tremors of fear through the ranks of Europe's top bureaucrats, who rarely have to trouble with voters.

A growing number of Irish voters say they will back the European Union's reform treaty in next month's referendum, although nearly half of those canvassed remain undecided, a poll showed on Saturday. A poll in the Irish Times newspaper found that 35 percent of Irish people said they would vote "yes" on June 12, up from 26 percent in a previous survey conducted in January.

Brian Cowen, who took over as Ireland's prime minister this month, has said approving the accord was a key priority for the government in the next few weeks. "If we vote yes we remain at the heart of a successful Europe, making our voice heard and continuing to benefit," Cowen said in a campaign speech to voters on Friday evening. "A no vote will put us on the outside and rejects the policies which have helped us to achieve so much."

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The gap between the "Yes" and the "No" camps ahead of the EU treaty referendum in Ireland has narrowed, according to the latest poll published on Sunday (25 May).

The survey for the Sunday Business Post shows that 41 percent plan to vote in favour of the treaty - a three percent increase on a similar poll two weeks ago. But the same survey showed that the No side has increased its share of the vote by five percent in the same period, with 33 percent saying they plan to reject the pact. A quarter of the electorate remain undecided about how they will vote on 12 June.

For the complete report from the EU-Observer click on this link