Ierland stemt voor begrotingsverdrag en verwacht solidariteit van EU (en)

BRUSSELS - Ireland has voted in a favour of the fiscal discipline treaty preliminary results show but the Yes vote is seen as grudging and the country is now expecting EU "solidarity" in return.

With most of the votes counted, tallies show that 60.3 percent voted in favour of the Germany-inspired document enshrining balanced budgets into national law while 39.7 percent vote against.

Even before the final result was in, Irish politicians were beginning to say that voters should be rewarded with support at EU-level for initiatives that stimulate economic growth.

"The Irish people have shown great judgement and responsibility. Where Member States show such responsibility, the EU should reciprocate with solidarity," said Gay Mitchell, an MEP from the governing centre-right Fine Gael party.

"Ireland's debt position must now be dealt with in the context of changing attitudes in EU capitals. This must involve a retrospective deal covering the recapitalisation of Ireland’s banks," said independent MEP Marian Harkin.

Ireland received an €85 billion EU-International-Monetary-Fund bail-out in 2010, following a spectacular crash in the property sector. Since then, two successive Irish governments have been slashing public spending and raising taxes to meet deficit-reduction targets.

The social consequences have been significant. Unemployment has risen to 14 percent. Charities speak of a strong increase in the people they care for and a change in the demographics of the people seeking aid.

An angry Yes?

Even though the Yes vote was strong, politicians admit that it was unlikely to have been due to a strong sense of conviction.

It will be made up of "a lot of angry Yes-es," said social protection minister Joan Burton, ahead of the vote.

Opposition Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said those who voted Yes did so cause they "saw it as a lesser of two evils."

The government conducted a Yes campaign based on fear. It warned that voting down the treaty would block Ireland's access from the permanent eurozone bailout fund, the ESM i. The No side had argued the treaty risks locking the country into a downward spiral of austerity.

Joe Higgins, a socialist member of parliament and prominent No campaigner, said there was a "very sharp polarisation" between higher and lower income areas with less well areas tending to reject the treaty.

This will have "important implications for the government," he said on national TV.

For the eurozone itself, the Irish vote was something of a sideshow. The intergovernmental treaty will come into force once 12 of the 17 euro countries ratify it, making Ireland's vote welcome but not a prerequisite.

Other profound problems remain.

The euro area's fourth largest economy, Spain, is in serious trouble with high borrowing costs and a large credit shortfall in its banks. Meanwhile Greek voters will go to the poll on 17 June and could vote for parties that want to change the austerity terms attached to their bailout - an outcome that would once again raise talk about the country leaving the single currency.