Text tabled : A7-0064/2012, A7-0065/2012

  Vital Moreira (S&D), in writing. – (PT) I voted for the Rangel reports on the protocol on Ireland, not only because this protocol confines itself to incorporating into EU constitutional law the political commitment that the other Member States made to the Irish Government prior to the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, but also because the report states explicitly that the protocol has no effect other than on Ireland’s rights and obligations within the Union context. I would stress, therefore, that although the protocol may mean a one-off derogation from the Treaties for Ireland, it does not imply any kind of restrictive interpretation of the Treaties, particularly where security and defence policy is concerned, as is made clear in the reasoning included in the draft protocol. Therefore, no other Member State can make use of the special treatment that the protocol grants to Ireland as if it were a straightforward interpretation of the Treaties. Since its effects are restricted to Ireland, the protocol leaves the interpretation and implementation of the Treaties completely open with regard to the other Member States.