The Taoiseach has said he is working to narrow the agenda for European leaders seeking agreement on an EU constitution, warning that around 20 issues remain unresolved.
Mr Ahern was speaking in the Dáil before continuing his talks with EU leaders at a meeting last night with the Portuguese Prime Minister Mr Jose Maria Durao Barroso. He said he had recently held discussions with the Spanish and Polish prime ministers and now had "a very sound understanding of their perspectives which is important if we are to make any progress".
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, met his Dutch counterpart Mr Bernard Bot in Dublin yesterday for talks on the prospect of agreeing a constitution. The Netherlands takes over the EU presidency on July 1st next and will inherit the task of agreeing the constitution unless it is agreed during the Irish term.
The Taoiseach said the issue "will not be resolved in the short-term though I will do my best to achieve that during the Irish presidency". He would try to reduce the number of potential solutions to the impasse currently on offer as they are "ten-a-penny at the moment and they will not work".
While the media had decided there were just two outstanding issues, there were in fact about 20, he said. The major issue was the voting strengths of different member-states in the European Council. Spain and Poland wish to retain a voting system agreed at Nice in 2000, under which they have 27 votes each while the largest countries Germany and France each have 29. However France and Germany want a system that gives them comparatively more votes, better reflecting the population differences between the countries.
Mr Ahern listed other issues as being the retention of one EU Commissioner for each member-state, the ending of the national veto on certain issues, some justice and home affairs matters and the number of MEPs to be elected by smaller countries.
"What we must now try to do is to narrow the list because whoever, whether me or someone else, has to have an IGC with over 20 issues on the agenda would never get agreement." He said it would be St Patrick's Day - a week before the next European Council meeting in Brussels - before he could make a full report. Mr Cowen said the atmosphere in the discussions had improved since the failed summit in December.
Denis Staunton adds from Brussels: Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, has ruled himself out as a successor to Mr Romano Prodi as president of the European Commission. Speaking on German radio, Mr Juncker said yesterday that he intends to seek re-election at Luxembourg's general election on June 18th and that he has no wish to move to Brussels.
Mr Juncker, who is the longest-serving leader in the EU, has been seen in European circles as among the favourites for the post of Commission president. Mr Prodi's successor must be chosen by EU leaders before the end of the Irish presidency in June.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has urged the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to meet as soon as possible to discuss the steps need to resume the Middle East peace process.
Mr Ahern disclosed that next Monday in Dublin he will meet the Palestinian prime minister, Mr Ahmed Qurei.
Calling for an end to violence and any activity which could jeopardise the resumption of the peace process, he said the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships should fully engage to resume implementation of the stalled peace "roadmap". "Inaction in the peace process is not an acceptable option," Mr Ahern said.