Ireland's economic growth and success have presented the Government with a major challenge to minimise the State's losses in the imminent EU negotiations on future structural and cohesion funding, the Taoiseach has said.
At his final press conference at the conclusion of the summit, Mr Ahern accepted that exceptional Irish growth had raised questions about whether Ireland could continue to receive the high level of EU funds it has in the past, and whether Irish industry could receive as much State aid as it does currently.
He welcomed as "truly historic" the decision on opening negotiations with central and eastern European states and Cyprus on their accession to the EU.
Also welcoming the decision on enlargement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, warned that Ireland must work to ensure the continuation of cohesion funding.
When he spoke on the subject at the Council meeting he said, he "put down a very strong marker on funding. I stressed the need to continue the Union's cohesion effort and it must not be jeopardised - the transitional elements must be adequate in content and duration."
The Government supports the putting in place of transitional arrangements to ensure that any cut in Ireland's allocation of EU funding happens slowly and gradually.
Mr Ahern said that during the meeting between EU leaders and those from the 11 applicant states, he had told them that Ireland's 25 years in the EU had been remarkably positive "in terms of how our agriculture has moved on and developed, how the restructuring has been possible, how industry has moved into a far more international phase, how we were able to develop the International Services Centre and get a particular arrangement for the tax position, and at the same time be able to move our country from the relatively `poor' to the relatively `wealthy' " category.
The result, he said, was that Ireland's GDP was now more than 75 per cent of the EU average, and therefore questions were being raised about our future entitlement to continue receiving the maximum Objective One funding, given to states whose GDP is below 75 per cent.
"It was always our understanding that as soon as you move out of that Objective One category . . . that the position would change and we accept that. Our next task now is to ensure we have a transitional period and we look forward to that."
He said Ireland had been imaginative in its approach to negotiations over the past 25 years of EU membership and he was sure this would continue into the next round of negotiations.
"It would be nice to remain in the Objective One category," he said, "but it would not be nice to be below 75 per cent of EU GDP, or not to have the 250,000 more people employed as there have been in recent years, or not to have had an average 5.5 per cent growth since 1987."
He also conceded Ireland faced difficulties in the current negotiations with the Commission on the level of state aids to industry. Ireland's level of State aid to industry was acceptable under EU rules when the State's GDP was below 75 per cent of the EU average. It is now considered too high.
It was also important to reach agreement on Ireland's level of corporation tax, and he would be discussing this with the President of the Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, next Thursday. "We've made a decision that we are going to move over time to a low rate of 12.5 per cent and it requires time to do that." Much of Ireland's success had been built on attracting multinational companies to locate there, and so it was important to provide them with a clear view of the future tax regime.
The European Council had been "very successful and historic" and had agreed to set up an informal group of finance and economic ministers from states that joined the single currency to discuss single currency matters, "while making it clear that matters of general interest will be considered in the normal way by Ecofin ministers, and all decisions will be taken in the Council."
He said he welcomed this decision. "From an Irish viewpoint it's helpful to have the UK as fully involved as possible while it remains outside the euro area."
He said that both he and Mr Andrews had intervened in the lengthy discussion to give assistance to the UK government "on the basis that for them to be involved is in our interest, and as Tony Blair put it himself, the more inclusive the process is in the years when they are out, the quicker they will be in and that's clearly our stated wish - that we want to see them in the shortest possible time."