British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, raised an unexpected objection at the EU summit in Brussels today to the nature of the legal guarantees being sought by Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, in advance of a new referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
However, envoys from EU partners said they had reached agreement in principle giving assurances on the issues which prompted voters to reject the treaty in June.
"No one rejected Ireland's position," Spanish secretary of state for European affairs Diego Lopez Garrido said.
"The leaders who spoke intervened to consider that the conditions asked for by Ireland are acceptable," he said after a first round of talks, stressing his country still wanted checks on how the deal would affect other parts of the treaty.
Mr Cowen gave his fellow EU leaders a commitment that the Government would ratify the Treaty if the political package he proposed to them in Brussels at a meeting of the European Council this afternoon was accepted.
However, Mr Brown queried the precise legal status of the guarantees being sought on issues like neutrality, abortion and taxation. He told the meeting of his concerns that the guarantees might lead to the Lisbon Treaty having to be brought back to the House of Commons.
Agreement on the Irish package was postponed so that talks could take place between representatives of the French presidency and the Irish and British Governments could take place.
President Nicolas Sarkozy had expressed the hope that the Irish guarantees could be ratified at the same time as the accession treaty for Croatia but this appeared to cause problems for the British.
Irish Government sources are hoping that agreement can be reached either tonight or tomorrow morning to enable the package to proceed.
Mr Cowen gave his fellow EU leaders a commitment that the Irish Government would ratify the Lisbon Treaty if the political package he was proposing to them in Brussels yesterday was accepted.
He told the meeting that Ireland needed to keep with the EU but the concerns of Irish citizens needed to be addressed. The draft conclusions presented to the meeting after contacts with the French presidency were the results of intense negotiations.
The Taoiseach stressed that the issue of the Irish Commissioner was a very important one and he was glad to have confirmation from Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, that a Commission of 27 could work well.
This was one aspect that would reassure people that their concerns are taken on board but other concerns needed to be taken on board through legal guarantees which in principle should not pose problems to others.
These assurances would have to be robust and able to withstand any domestic challenge so as not to undermine his Government’s credibility.
“We need a spirit of credibility and solidarity. It is essential to show the Irish people their concerns are taken on board,” said Mr Cowen.
“If we agree on this political package I commit the Irish Government to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. For that we need your support and assistance,” he told the other leaders.
“We are convinced of the value of the Treaty and its benefits. It is vital for Ireland and for all. An agreement today is a signal to address future concerns” said Mr Cowen.
He said that in October the European Council had decided to identify the elements of a solution and the way forward and that was what the presidency and the Irish Government had been doing over the last weeks and months.
The Government wanted to see the Lisbon Treaty enter into force as soon as possible without interfering with the ratification process. For that to happen the Government had a duty to represent the wishes and concerns of its electorate.
The reasons for the negative vote had been lack of information, fear of lack of influence, social/ethical issues, threat to worker’s rights, taxation issues and neutrality.
