The European Union risks losing sight of the issues that are important to its citizens because of its preoccupation with institutional reform, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said.
Mr Ahern said he was "irritated" by the focus on how the EU should operate, when there were more important issues that affected people directly.
The dispute over how a 27-member EU should function did not figure on the issues debated at the first European Citizens' Consultation in Ireland. Instead, the 60 participants, who were selected at random by the MRBI, chose the environment, energy, family and immigration as the subjects of most importance.
The event, organised by the National Forum on Europe, took place over the weekend at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.
Mr Ahern said the political classes in Europe had a duty to listen to the people they represented, rather than focusing on the issues they considered to be of importance.
"I know that the effective working of the European Union is one of the critical success factors for Ireland as it faces the future, but, like most citizens, I do get irritated when the focus remains on the process of decision-making and the big picture seems to be lost sight of," he said.
"It is not the European council or the European Commission who decide what Europe is about. It's a democracy. The environment, energy, immigration - these are the big issues and I think the European institutions have to reflect that. It's their responsibility and duty to reflect the concerns of people."
More than 90 per cent of those who attended agreed that Europe should have a common energy policy focused on renewable energy sources and a pan-European energy grid. On welfare and family, they said member states should learn from other states how best to provide elderly care and to reconcile work and family.
On immigration, they agreed that member states should have control over their borders and ghettoisation should be avoided.
