The European Union must “quickly agree” a package of measures to secure Irish ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said today.
Speaking after a meeting in Brussels, Mr Barroso said he hoped the union could resolve the outstanding institutional issues in line with agreements made at the European Council last December, where Taoiseach Brian Cowen secured a number of concessions to make the treaty more palatable to the Irish electorate.
The key elements of the deal involve agreement that all EU states retain a commissioner, and that legal guarantees on issues of concern to the Irish electorate such as neutrality, abortion and taxation are accepted.
Mr Barroso called on the Council of Ministers for a speedy acceptance of the measures.
He said: “I want us to give the Irish Government what it needs to call a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, and to give it the best chance to win.”
“I therefore hope we can quickly agree on the assurances that we accepted in December,” he added.
Earlier Mr Barroso declared his candidacy for a second term as president of the European Commission.
"I am ... honoured that the President of the European Council has today asked me if he can put forward my name for a second mandate," Mr Barroso told a news conference.
"I have agreed to this request," he said.
Mr Barroso (53) a conservative former prime minister of Portugal, made his announcement following talks with leaders of the Czech Republic and Sweden, the current and next holders of the EU presidency. He has held the post since November 2004.