Here's a quick summation of what Wikipedia has to say on the matter:
- Central Bank and euro given official recognition.
- Court of Justice slightly strengthened.
- Reorganisation and television display of Council.
- 18 month Presidency.
- Council of heads of states separated, voting procedure changed to reduce excessive power of small nations.
- President of Council elected.
- Power of Parliament increased.
- Minor changes to roles of national Parliaments.
- Council made smaller, re-arranged.
- Somewhat coordinated foreign policy.
- Consolidation of various bits and pieces.
- Enlargement barriers removed.
- Method for nations to leave.
- Solidarity on disasters, energy supply.
- Laying the grounds for a potential defence agreement, but with no obligations.
Of course the funny thing about this referendum is that nobody knows what it's actually about. People have this vague, nasty idea that it is about tax or war or something. The poster campaigns going on at the moment are rather interesting. There are basically two sides; on the Yes side are the major political parties, and various other groups. On the No side are Sinn Fein, bits of the Green Party, and various other other groups.
The 'Yes' posters are generally some politician (including Enda Kenny; I'd almost vote No just because of that) telling you to vote yes. The 'No' posters generally tell you that voting Yes will cause tax hikes, job losses, and lead to war. Really, the Yes people would be far better off just telling people what it was about; the No people should probably continue in their scare-mongering.
I'll be voting Yes, of course; I think that it's the right thing to do. However, I do worry that the Nos will prevail, simply because no-body knows what it is about, and thus people are quite cautious of it. Sinn Fein's faux-patriotic bullshit on the subject won't help, either; they have quite a bit of support these days.
What way will you be voting? And how have you come to this conclusion? First person to say they're voting No because of the (I think) Sinn Fein poster telling us that people died for our freedom gets a slap.
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