(DUBLIN) - The European Parliament's president warned Tuesday against lies and exaggerations ahead of Ireland's referendum on a key EU treaty, saying decisions on issues like abortion would stay in Irish hands.

Hans-Gert Poettering said he hoped that "scare tactics and falsehoods" would not feature in the campaign leading up to the June 12 vote on the Treaty of Lisbon, which replaces the EU's doomed constitution.

He said that decisions on areas including abortion, military neutrality and corporation tax -- low levels of which have helped boost the Celtic Tiger's economy -- would "remain your own decisions."

Ireland is the only EU member state holding a referendum on the new pact. It replaces the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, which plunged the bloc into unprecedented limbo.

In 2001, Ireland sent shockwaves through the EU with a "no" vote on the Nice Treaty, over concerns about retaining the country's neutral status.

The decision was reversed in a subsequent referendum following the insertion of a protocol, backed by other EU leaders, clarifying the issue of neutrality.

In an address to Ireland's upper house of parliament, Poettering dismissed suggestions that the Lisbon Treaty would affect Ireland's ban on abortion as "a lie."

He also offered reassurance the treaty contained the need for a unanimous vote on tax changes, despite a report in Tuesday's Irish Times headlined: "France seeks to introduce common EU corporate tax plan."

"Without the consent, the agreement of Ireland, nothing can change. If there are people saying there will be a change with the Treaty of Lisbon, the people are not telling the truth," he said.

"I would like to see that some ministers of greater countries...would be a little bit more wise and would be a little bit more reluctant in statements."

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