EU on crucial consultations after Irish 'No' vote
Monday, June 16, 2008
EUROPEAN foreign ministers will launch today a crucial week of consultation to see if the EU's battered reform plans can be saved after Ireland's stunning rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.
The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, will want to hear from Irish counterpart Micheal Martin whether Dublin believes anything can be done to convince his people to accept the painstakingly assembled package.
However "the discussions are not likely to go too far, we will not be asking him anything precise", a senior EU diplomat said on the eve of the talks.
"People are still stupefied by the decision of the Irish, we need to wait for the clearing of everybody's brains," said Andrew Duff, a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament and expert on EU institutional issues.
The results of their talks will top the agenda of a two-day EU summit in Brussels starting Thursday, which has taken on the allure of a crisis meeting since Ireland voted "no" last week by 53.4 per cent.
The reversal is the third referendum blow in three years to EU plans to make its bureaucracy function correctly with 27 members, and could leave it limping along with the much-maligned rule book signed in 2001: the Nice Treaty.
As well as seeking clues to the way ahead, the ministers will want fresh assurances from heavyweight Britain and the Czech Republic's Eurosceptic leaders that they will push on with the process of ratifying the treaty.
Duff said that a quick ratification by Britain whose upper House of Lords debates the treaty again Wednesday would "boost their morale".
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country takes up the EU's rotating presidency at an extremely tricky time on July 1, will hold talks with Czech leaders today.
The aim will be to see if "they are committed to follow up on their ratification process", the diplomat said, after Czech President Vaclav Klaus saidon Friday that the reform treaty was finished. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also discuss the crisis in a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.AFP
The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, will want to hear from Irish counterpart Micheal Martin whether Dublin believes anything can be done to convince his people to accept the painstakingly assembled package.
However "the discussions are not likely to go too far, we will not be asking him anything precise", a senior EU diplomat said on the eve of the talks.
"People are still stupefied by the decision of the Irish, we need to wait for the clearing of everybody's brains," said Andrew Duff, a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament and expert on EU institutional issues.
The results of their talks will top the agenda of a two-day EU summit in Brussels starting Thursday, which has taken on the allure of a crisis meeting since Ireland voted "no" last week by 53.4 per cent.
The reversal is the third referendum blow in three years to EU plans to make its bureaucracy function correctly with 27 members, and could leave it limping along with the much-maligned rule book signed in 2001: the Nice Treaty.
As well as seeking clues to the way ahead, the ministers will want fresh assurances from heavyweight Britain and the Czech Republic's Eurosceptic leaders that they will push on with the process of ratifying the treaty.
Duff said that a quick ratification by Britain whose upper House of Lords debates the treaty again Wednesday would "boost their morale".
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country takes up the EU's rotating presidency at an extremely tricky time on July 1, will hold talks with Czech leaders today.
The aim will be to see if "they are committed to follow up on their ratification process", the diplomat said, after Czech President Vaclav Klaus saidon Friday that the reform treaty was finished. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also discuss the crisis in a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.AFP
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