Ex.17. EUROPEAN UNION DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the term ‘European Union’?
c)	What do you think of Ireland voting no?
d)	Do you think people in other EU countries will be angry with the Irish?
e)	How deep is the EU crisis in the wake of Ireland’s rejection?
f)	Do you think this is a good example of “the little guy” having a say?
g)	Is it right that a country with less than one percent of the EU population can destroy such an important treaty?
h)	Do you think the EU needs to be reformed?
i)	Do you think this no vote makes the EU weaker in the world?
j)	Do you think all EU citizens should vote in their own referendum?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think the Lisbon Treaty is now dead in the water?
c)	If larger EU countries continue to try and ratify the treaty, does this mean they don’t care about the Irish vote?
d)	Do you think President Sarkozy can paper over the cracks?
e)	Do you think the EU will integrate more or less in the future?
f)	Should the Irish have been happy with how the EU has improved their country and voted ‘yes’?
g)	Does your country have any international treaties you don’t agree?
h)	What do you think will happen to the Lisbon Treaty from now?
i)	What questions would you like to ask President Sarkozy?
j)	Did you like this discussion on the European Union?

Ex.18. LANGUAGE

The people of Ireland have rejected the European Union’s reform treaty in a referendum and (1) ____ the EU into crisis. The Irish delivered a Friday the 13th bad omen to European integration. All 27 countries needed to agree (2) ____ the Lisbon Treaty in order for it to come into (3) ____. Ireland represents less than one per cent of the EU population, but their ‘no’ vote meant it was (4) ____ to the drawing board for the whole of the EU. The treaty was supposed to replace the constitution, give the EU stronger leadership and (5) ____ streamlining reforms to take place more quickly. It took many years to draw (6) ____ and just a few hours to vote into the trash can of history. The ‘no’ vote also highlights how unpopular the EU is to its citizens. Three years ago, the French and Dutch voted to reject the EU constitution. Other European countries are now debating how to progress in the (7) ____ of the Treaty’s collapse. Britain, France and Germany are keen to somehow ratify the treaty through backdoor legal (8) ____. France takes over the EU Presidency on July 1st and President Sarkozy will now need all his diplomatic skills to paper over the (9) ____ that are appearing in Euroland. France’s foreign minister Bernard Kouchner warned Ireland last Monday that it would be a bad idea to vote no. He said: “We would not be able to (10) ____ on the Irish who counted a lot on Europe’s money.” He was referring to the millions of Euros the EU has given Ireland to turn it (11) ____ a booming economy. There will now be considerable pressure on Dublin to find a workable (12) ____ that will allow the reforms to go ahead.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 870

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