mr president the commissioner is telling us that the memorandum of understanding was drawn up under article one hundred and twenty-two part two
i would like to ask the commissioner what happens when one article of the treaty is in direct contradiction with other articles in the treaty as stephen hughes has asked how do we decide on the hierarchy
it is in contradiction with article one hundred and fifty-three
it is also in contradiction with article nine the social clause which i have quoted many times in this chamber when speaking about the irish austerity package where it says that in defining and implementing all its policies and activities the union shall take into account requirements linked to the promotion of a high level of employment and the fight against social exclusion etc
and what about article twenty-eight in the charter of fundamental rights under which workers have the rights to negotiate and conclude collective agreements and in the cases of conflicts of interest to take collective action to defend their interests including strike action
many irish workers would see that they are in that position at the moment
how do we deal with the contradiction between the different articles in the treaty
another question for you commissioner are you stating that the memorandum of understanding was entirely the responsibility of the irish government and that the commission acquiesced or agreed
finally let us assume here you have the power to do all of this and you are telling us you have why then was there no effort to reduce or eliminate bank bonuses
why was there no effort to ensure that those at the top of the salary scale paid their fair share
why is it that one euro was deducted from the minimum wage
i agree entirely with what stephen hughes has said this fuels anti-european sentiment
citizens see what is happening
they see how the commission is working in this whole process and what they see is that it is those on the minimum wage those who are in collective agreements are being hit with these austerity plans
finally my main question commissioner is who decides
is it the court of justice
who decides when articles of the treaty are in conflict or when the commission acts in such a way as to bring those articles into conflict with one another
