A referendum on the European Union Reform Treaty will likely be held in the first half of next year, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
He told the Annual Congress of the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) at Dublin Castle that the treaty would create "a framework for a better functioning Europe".
"An enlarged Union in a globalising world faces different challenges and requires different institutional structures and operating principles to deliver for the people of Europe," Mr Ahern said.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which expanded European integration beyond it's first tentative step, creating a set of common policies and establishing institutions. Ireland, the UK and Denmark joined the then European Community in 1973 bringing its number to nine.
Mr Ahern said a 27-member entity required new ways of functioning which the Reform Treaty delivers through a new form of majority voting; strengthened citizens' rights and a President of the Council of Ministers - a post Mr Ahern is considered a likely candidate for.
"The Treaty provides for a clearer EU voice in the international arena so that Europe's views, and the values we support, are more influential.
"It represents a rational step to update the Union's rules and focus, and an essential step for the functioning of our enlarged Union in a vastly changed world," Mr Ahern said.
The European Union had given leadership in areas such as labour law, environmental standards and equality, he said.
The Common Agricultural Policy, and structural and cohesion funds have all contributed towards Irish development.
Ireland's strong tradition of neutrality, should not cloud the value of the peace and stability the EU had created. "It might be easy to underestimate just how profoundly important that has been right across Europe," Mr Ahern said.
Although the UK is considering a referendum, Mr Ahern said Ireland was likely to be the only member state to put the treaty to the people.
"No decision has yet been taken on a date, but it is likely that we will hold our referendum in the first half of 2008," he added. A referendum Bill will be put before the Dáil early in the New Year.
"The implications of the Irish debate will stretch far beyond our shores. Because of this, we can expect people from abroad to try and shape the outcome.
For some, particularly those opposed to the European Union, it will be a proxy for a national debate that they wished they could have had in their own country."
He noted an Irish Times / TNS mrbi poll last Monday showed that just 25 per cent of respondents favoured the treaty while a massive 62 per cent say they were undecided or had no opinion on how they would vote.
He said the Referendum Commission would be established early next year to explain the issues to the public and maximise participation.