Dublin 'still committed to EU' says Cowan

Ireland remains totally committed to the European Union despite rejecting the Treaty of Nice, Foreign Minister Brian Cowen insisted today.

He delivered reassurance to fellow EU foreign ministers at talks in Luxembourg, setting out Dublin’s deep support for EU enlargement - a project which cannot go ahead unless all member states approve the treaty by the end of next year.

And the rest of the EU delivered support in return, issuing a declaration noting that Ireland is ‘‘deeply and fully committed’’ and offering ‘‘every help possible’’ in sorting out the problem.

Meanwhile, they insisted, the enlargement process, designed to usher a dozen central and eastern European countries into the EU in the next few years, is going full steam ahead.

Only Ireland decided to put the treaty to a referendum - and ministers have still not established what prompted the public to revolt, admitted Mr Cowen.

He said there was no single reason - and some of the protest vote was aimed at issues unaffected by the approval or rejection of the treaty.

He explained that the next legal advice available to Dublin was that a referendum on an EU treaty change was required - but other factors, including a low turn-out, interfered in what should have been a straightforward vote endorsing the necessary EU internal changes needed to make enlargement workable.

Mr Cowen told journalists: ‘‘There are no simple solutions to this problem, but it is our firm intention that that difficulty we have encountered should be resolved in time to keep the timetable for enlargement.’’

He went on: ‘‘We are still assessing and distilling the reasons for this rejection. There were a variety of elements, and no single reasons or set of reasons for it. But the result does not alter the Government’s full commitment to the EU.’’