European Fiscal Treaty Referendum

European Fiscal Treaty Referendum, originally uploaded by infomatique.

Much of the discussion so far has focused on the need for a second bailout – with the YES campaign saying we will not have access to the European Stability Fund if we vote NO.

The Fiscal Compact(formally, the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union; also called the Fiscal Stability Treaty) is an intergovernmental treaty which was signed by all of the member states of the European Union (EU) except the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom on 2 March 2012. The treaty will enter into force on 1 January 2013, if by that time 12 members of the euro area have ratified it. On 28 February 2012, following the advice of the Attorney General Máire Whelan, the Irish Government announced that Ireland would hold a referendum on the compact.

The Fiscal Compact requires its parties to introduce a national requirement to have national budgets that are in balance or in surplus. The European Court of Justice would fine a country up to 0.1 % of GDP if this was not done a year after ratification.