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.