EurActiv ‘Special Week’ coverage on the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty

EurActiv, the independent media portal specialised in EU policies, will be running special coverage from 1-5 October on the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland.

The vote will take place on Friday 2 October following the treaty’s rejection by popular vote in June 2008. EurActiv will be following the outcome of the vote on Saturday 3 October when results will be announced.

Throughout the day, EurActiv will keep its readers informed of the latest exit polls and results via a live blogging website hosted by Blogactiv.eu, our sister publication. The live blogging will be run by one of EurActiv’s Irish journalists, Gary Finnegan, and is available at the following address: http://finneganstake.blogactiv.eu/2009/09/28/lisbon-results-live-blog/

If the treaty goes through, there will be a raft of changes introduced in the EU’s institutional setup and EurActiv will guide its readers through the main ones. If it doesn’t, Europe will again be plunged into a crisis, which is likely to be unprecedented in scale to the previous ones.

Ireland received concessions from its EU partners in order to hold a second ballot. These have included assurances that the country would keep its commissioner and legal guarantees over taxation policy and social affairs, including a right to maintain the country’s ban on abortion. Ireland also got assurances that the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP) would not change the country’s traditional policy of neutrality.

Some of the topics to be addressed during the special week can already be seen on EurActiv in the form of policy briefings (LinksDossiers), including the following relevant ones:

- The 'Treaty of Lisbon' [FR] [DE]

- Choosing 'Mr(s). Europe'

Frédéric Simon, EurActiv Editor, said: “This vote is obviously crucial for the Lisbon Treaty and the EU but it is still not the end of the road. There are still ratifications waiting in the Czech Republic and Poland and the UK Conservatives have promised to hold a referendum if they come to power before the matter is settled.”

EurActiv has several policy sections relevant to the future agenda of the EU institutions. These include three ‘CrossLingual sections’ (with coverage in its 10 country network and localisation in 10 languages):

- Enterprise and Jobs [FR] [DE]

- Innovation & Creativity [FR] [DE] (official media channel for the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009)

- Enlargement [FR] [DE]

Media contacts:

Frédéric Simon, Editor, Tel. +32(0)2.788.36.78, editor2@euractiv.com

Daniela Vincenti-Mitchener, Managing Editor, Tel. +32(0)2.788.36.69, news@euractiv.com

Christophe Leclercq, Publisher, Tel. +32(0)2.226.58.13, publisher@euractiv.com