The Government and the European Commission President sought yesterday to play down the dispute between Mr Prodi and the Taoiseach over the prospect of a two-speed Europe as the Cabinet prepared to meet the Commission in Dublin today.
Spokesmen for both the Irish EU Presidency and Mr Prodi agreed that the focus should now be on the negotiations seeking to agree a new EU constitutional treaty. This follows Sunday's sharp response by Mr Ahern to Mr Prodi's warning that a "two-speed Europe" was inevitable if the treaty was not agreed this year.
Mr Prodi's spokesman, Mr Reijo Kempinnen, said in Brussels that the row had been blown out of proportion and that Mr Prodi and Mr Ahern agreed that negotiations on the constitutional treaty should resume as soon as possible. "If the negotiations fail, if there is no solution by the end of the year, in that case, the president said that he sees the possibility of an avant-garde. The president is not saying that this is the preferable option," he said.
The spokesman for the Irish EU Presidency said he accepted that nobody wanted to see a "two-speed Europe" come about. "Our focus should be on the proposals in front of us, and there is no proposal in front of us for a two-speed Europe." He said the job of the Presidency now was "to listen to what heads of state and government have to say on the proposals and to seek to build a consensus ... People need to begin to focus on the points of agreement that are there and on the remaining issues that are outstanding."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said last night that the idea for a two-speed Europe had never been considered in any detail. "The important point is that all governments and heads of state are trying to advance the negotiations."
The Taoiseach is to report to the EU Summit in March on the issues that still divide EU members and on the prospects for progress. A spokesman for the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, said in Berlin yesterday that the leaders of France, Germany and Britain would meet before that summit to discuss how to move forward on the constitutional treaty. The spokesman said that the aim was to reach agreement at the end of 2004 under the Dutch presidency.
The Cabinet met in Dublin yesterday afternoon to prepare for today's meeting with the European Commission in Dublin Castle. Each minister will meet the commissioner whose work corresponds to their portfolio to discuss the programme for the next six months.
After these meetings, expected to begin shortly after 10 a.m., there will be a plenary meeting involving all Ministers and Commissioners at noon before a lunch hosted by the Taoiseach. The Commission traditionally travels to the capital of the member-state holding the EU Presidency at the start of each six-month term.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin's Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the comments by Mr Prodi and Mr Schröder on a two-speed Europe "reinforce Sinn Féin's argument during the Nice Treaty referendum that the Union was heading in that direction and that smaller countries would lose out".