Continued support for EU cannot be taken for granted

4.19.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 20th Jun 2008

As European Union leaders seek a way out of the dilemma posed by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, Graham Watson the Lib Dem MEP for the South West and Gibraltar who leads the Liberal and Democrat group in the European Parliament, underlined the primary message that they should all be taking home to their respective capitals, namely that "further construction of the European Union can no longer rely on the tacit support of its citizens".

"National Governments cannot expect support for Treaty changes unless the need for them is properly justified. Perhaps we have reached the point where, to paraphrase the Irish poet W.B. Yeats' observation: "Romantic Europe's dead and gone. It's with O'Leary in the grave".

"There is no point crying over spilled milk," said Watson. "The Irish, like the French and Dutch before them, have held a plebiscite on proposals to improve and advance cooperation across Europe and lost. It is regrettable but the reality."

"The EU leaders' road map out of the current crisis - completing the full picture of ratification and a decision from the Irish Government - must take full account of the reasons for the Irish 'no' vote but avoid spending the next five years distracted by institutional changes that interest no-one beyond Brussels."

"The focus on oil and food prices today is a welcome recognition that citizens care more about the price of petrol and pasta than they do about the system of double-majority voting in the Council of Ministers."

"This summit must mark the turning point in Member State complacency in explaining the purpose and policies of the EU to the electorate and no longer hiding behind the anonymity of the Brussels-based institutions. EU leaders must come clean that the Member States are central to every decision and directive adopted by the EU. They should start by ensuring that their post-summit press briefings to national media don't spin 27 different versions of the truth."