Czechs begin work on legal guarantees for Ireland
HONOR MAHONY
09.01.2009 @ 08:47 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Czech EU presidency is to begin the complicated task of providing the legal guarantees for the political concessions that Ireland has received on the rejected Lisbon Treaty.
Work will soon begin between Irish lawyers, the legal services of the Council (representing member states) and the European Commission, to firm up EU promises to that the treaty will not affect Irish neutrality, abortion or tax laws.
The Lisbon treaty was signed in 2007, but ratification is proving harder (Photo: Portuguese EU Presidency)
Europe ministers meeting in Prague on Thursday (8 January) had a brief discussion on how to proceed with the pending EU charter, which Ireland rejected in a referendum last June.
Irish Europe minister Dick Roche used the gathering to stress the importance of putting the concessions in legally watertight language.
He also told counterparts that reflections about when to hold a referendum on the treaty - an issue of burning interest to other member states - were well advanced, an EU diplomat said.
Sweden's Europe minister took the floor to note that her country will inherit the political hot potato in the second half of this year when it takes over the EU presidency.
Dublin has not announced a firm date for its second Lisbon referendum, but it is expected to take place in autumn.
Major discussions on Ireland's situation will take place during the EU leader's summer summit in June however, as European Parliament elections will have taken place and the commission will be nearing the end of its term.
The Czech presidency is hoping to have the legal text ready in time for this summit. Deputy prime minister for European affairs Alexandr Vondra said on Thursday that the guarantees would have to be acceptable to both Ireland and the 26 other member states.
Defence opt-out
Meanwhile, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin has said that opting out of EU defence integration could be an additional area where Ireland will seek special guarantees in order to try and secure a Yes vote by the Irish public.
"An opt-out has not been decided but it's on the table for discussion," said the foreign minister, according to the Irish Times newspaper.
"You could opt out of certain aspects of defence policy ... It has to be carefully evaluated," he explained. "In our discussions with the Danes, they cautioned very strongly against opt-outs because they felt it [the Danish decision to opt-out from EU defence in 1992] was to their ultimate disadvantage."
Mr Martin admitted that running a second referendum will be "very challenging" but noted that the worsening economic situation in Ireland due to the global financial crisis may make voters "accept that it is far better for Ireland to be at the heart of the European Union ... rather than to marginalise itself."
