The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will address the European Parliament today on the programme for Ireland's EU Presidency.
Mr Ahern is expected to tell MEPs of his efforts to revive talks on the EU's constitutional treaty and to ask for their co-operation in pushing through the Presidency's legislative programme.
Government officials are hoping the Taoiseach's visit to Strasbourg will be less controversial than that of his predecessor as EU President, Mr Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian prime minister caused a furore when he compared a German MEP who criticised him to a concentration camp guard.
MEPs will be able to question Mr Ahern about Ireland's plans for the next six months and many are hoping for news on the progress of his consultations on the constitutional treaty.
The European Parliament has two representatives at the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) responsible for negotiating the treaty. The Parliament's President, Mr Pat Cox, has also attended some meetings.
The MEPs could play an important role in persuading their national governments to re-engage with the negotiations.
Mr Ahern is focusing in the early weeks of the Presidency on attempting to discern if Poland, Spain, Germany and France are willing to return to negotiations on the treaty's most controversial proposal, which would change the way member-states vote in the Council of Ministers.
Germany and Poland favour an early completion of the treaty negotiations.