Ahern: EU needs treaty reality check

IRELAND should be able to vote on a new Constitution for Europe in the 2009 elections, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern believes.

He favours a short, sharp and quick adjusting of the agreement over the next 18 months to lift the EU out of the crisis created by the French and Dutch rejection of the treaty.

Mr Ahern joined fellow EU leaders in Berlin yesterday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the union and launch a declaration committing to a common future.

But the divisions seemed deeper than ever over what kind of treaty the EU needs. The Taoiseach did not hide his disaffection after lunch when he said many of the leaders around the table were not there when the Constitution was agreed, and did not understand how difficult it was to do this.

“A dose of reality will have to hit EU leaders and 18 months is sufficient for that,” he said.

However, this time it will be done behind closed doors with consultations between the presidency and two civil servants from each member state, as the declaration was achieved.

“If this is taken out again to free consumption all over Europe it will never come through. They won’t fix it until 2040,” said Mr Ahern.

He believes it is essential to have the new rules for the operation of the EU finalised before the 2009 elections to the European Parliament and when new rules will restrict the number of countries able to appoint commissioners.

“How do you go into an election in 2009 when we do not know what country is not going to have a commissioner. This has to be finalised in 2008,” he said.

The Irish have stressed they do not want to see the delicate balance unpicked as, like many countries, they agreed to certain issues on the basis of getting compromises in other areas.

Mr Ahern said: “Don’t open and upset the balances that have been long agreed. We have to get over the difficulties. But having a shorter document and putting the rest in annexes does not upset me.”

The problem now is that 17 countries have ratified the document, including some through a referendum, while others like Ireland and Denmark are waiting to see the final outcome.

The French and Dutch need changes before they can proceed, while the Poles and Czechs say they want to make major changes and the British are clearly unhappy.