EU: The Irish presidency will conclude negotiations on a European constitution at or by the June 17th-18th European Council, the Taoiseach and President Jacques Chirac said here yesterday.
In the run-up to the March 25th-26th Council in Brussels, both leaders repeatedly mentioned the June target date - which falls only days after elections for the European Parliament.
Mr Chirac seemed to imply that agreement on the constitution would not be reached before the June summit. "We want the conclusion [of a constitutional treaty\] to happen at the Council of June 17th-18th, and it is possible to do so," he said.
The Taoiseach held out hope that the constitution could take shape sooner.
"There is now growing support that we finish the constitution by the June Council. We have to decide whether we do it then or before then," he said.
"What we're saying today is that by the 17th-18th of June that should be completion. If we can do it earlier, we'll do it earlier. If not, we do it by that date."
Irish officials were delighted that Mr Chirac remarked on a "qualitative change" in favour of completing the constitution under the Irish presidency. Until now, French officials said only that they wanted agreement by the end of 2004. Mr Chirac made it clear that he spoke for Germany as well as France.
The mood was serious and businesslike, with the Taoiseach smiling only once, when Mr Chirac objected to a journalist's question. "I gave no advice to the Taoiseach. I allowed myself to make a few friendly suggestions," he said.
Mr Chirac is believed to be concerned that negotiations on the constitution not get trammelled up with the campaign for the European parliamentary elections. His party lost the first round of regional elections on Sunday, and the socialists or his old rival, Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, might criticise French compromises to gain electoral advantage.
There can be little progress on the constitution before the new Spanish government takes office, in mid-April at the earliest. "The mandate I received from \ Brussels [summit in December\] was to make an assessment and report. I will do that on Thursday night at dinner," Mr Ahern said.
He is expected to announce resumption of the Inter-Governmental Conference, which would probably hold two meetings at foreign minister level before the constitution is agreed at the June Council.
Mr Chirac was asked whether Paris was willing to help the Irish presidency by compromising on the mechanics of European decision-making. The draft constitution drawn up by the Convention foresees a "double majority" of 50 per cent of states and 60 per cent of the EU's population to take decisions. It is a major breakthrough that Spain and Poland now agree in principle to a "double majority", but they have held out for higher percentages.
Paris shows no sign of budging yet. France and Germany argue that higher percentages will make it more difficult for the EU to function. "The position which we took with the Germans, but also with the British . . . was a good compromise between the demands of efficiency and the demands of democracy. We have not changed our minds," Mr Chirac said.
The burden of finding a solution lay with the Irish presidency, Mr Chirac said. Ireland had assumed its responsibilities and any conclusions reached would be examined with an open mind. "The art of a European presidency is to find compromises which are acceptable to everyone. This is the process which made it possible to build Europe. It is a process that France and Germany accept."
In the wake of the Madrid bombings, there was total accord on fighting terrorism. The Taoiseach said he would dedicate the first session of the Council to the issue. "We expect to adopt a declaration on terrorism on Thursday. We expect to focus on measures to protect our citizens."
Mr Chirac reiterated France's desire to "increase efforts to determine the roots that create a situation that favours terrorism, so that we can attack these roots".
Both men condemned Israel's assassination of the Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, saying that it violated international law.