No. 4 Ireland
Ireland did not elect a leader or a new parliament. But with its singular decision to reject a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, the small republic denied the forced integration that the 27-nation European Union had coveted. Following rejections by French and Dutch voters in 2005, the EU constitution was redrafted with the help of former French president Valery Giscard D'Estaing. The failed constitution was repackaged in the Treaty of Lisbon, so that "public opinion will be led to accept, without knowing it, the proposals that we dare not present to them directly. ... All the earlier proposals will be in the new text, but will be hidden and disguised in some way." To stack the deck against popular opposition, most EU nations - this time including France and the Netherlands - made sure the treaty was ratified by the parliaments, instead of by popular vote. Ireland, however, was required by its own constitution to put ratification on the ballot and thus presented the last obstacle to the treaty as unanimous approval by EU member nations was required. Despite emphatic support by the government and most of the political parties, the referendum went down in defeat on June 12. Even though opinion polls consistently showed a lead for the "Yes" vote, more than 53 percent of Irish voters cast "No" votes on election day. Exit polling revealed that the referendum went down in defeat because many voters simply did not understand the fine prints of the treaty and shared a deep distrust for both EU and Irish politicians. The Irish vote prevented the treaty from going into force on Jan. 1, 2009, as was planned. The Irish government, after receiving concessions in matters relating to taxation and neutrality, agreed to hold a revote on the referendum sometime before October 2009, potentially with its membership in the EU in the balance.
