The long-awaited Irish plan for the EU constitution has been released. It proposes that decisions on taxation require unanimous endorsement by member states and a process for halting majority decisions on foreign policy and social security.
The proposals will be discussed by foreign ministers in Luxembourg tomorrow ahead of the Inter-Governmental Conference at the end of this week.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, hopes to crown what is widely regarded as a successful presidency by securing agreement on the constitution before Ireland's presidency ends at the end of the month.
The summit on Thursday and Friday is almost certainly his last chance.
After a whistle-stop tour of states with the most serious reservations in recent weeks, Mr Ahern has indicated that agreement is not far off.
Already British sources are indicating that their "red line" issues have been addressed but one said the text would require close scrutiny by lawyers.
The plan also aims to settle the row between the Dutch and Germans over the EU's strict budget deficit rules.
The new text proposes appending a declaration to the constitution reaffirming the EU's commitment to the Stability and Growth pact.
Member states "should actively consolidate public finances and improve budgetary positions with the objective to achieve budgetary surpluses in economic upswings," it said.
EU sources said the declaration would have "declaratory" force but not be legally binding. Holland is now expected to drop its demand that the constitution should give the European Court of Justice power to supervise the enforcement of the budget rules.
But ministers are still expected to clash over demands by Germany and three other countries to water down proposed extra powers in the constitution for the Commission to make countries reduce deficits.
It clearly places responsibility for coordinating economic and employment policies with member states rather the European Commission and has dropped a provision for majority-vote decisions on foreign and defence policy.
"We feel this strikes a balance between those who have particular difficulties on particularly sensitive articles while maintaining an overall high level of ambition for extending qualified majority voting (QMV)," an Irish presidency spokesman said.
QMV is one of the thorniest issues, and the new draft suggest that a unanimous decision is required imposing EU-side taxation rules and means of raising central EU revenue.
The Irish proposals provided for an "emergency brake" allowing countries to block decisions on social security and delay them on judicial cooperation.
However, they would allow smaller groups of countries to press ahead with closer integration on justice and home affairs within 12 months if there was no agreement.
The Irish text slightly redrafted of the constitution preamble, dropping a quotation from Greek historian Thucydides and incorporating language from the Polish constitution referring to "Europe reunited after bitter experiences".
But it did not add a mention of Christianity or God as demanded by several mainly Roman Catholic countries.
Additional reporting Reuters