Taoiseach says EU constitution still 'on the table'

A complete renegotiation of the Constitutional Treaty for Europe or the agreement of a "truncated" treaty would be a "serious reverse" for the European Union, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said.

In an address to the European Commission in Brussels today, Mr Ahern noted the rejection of the treaty by France and the Netherlands but said the issue remained "very much on the table". Urgent constititutional change was needed to meet the demands of the 21 ^stcentury, he said.

Mr Ahern said the Irish electorate's vote against the Nice Treaty "taught us that the support of the public for European integration cannot be taken for granted".

"From the beginning, we were determined to find a solution which would enable the Treaty of Nice to be ratified. After we had addressed their principal concerns, the Irish public voted strongly to accept the treaty," he said.

"The current situation is undoubtedly more complex, but we need a clearer understanding of what it is about the Constitutional Treaty that has caused these negative votes.

"As we plot a way forward for Europe, we must not discard the years of careful work that went into the drafting and negotiating of the Constitutional Treaty."

Mr Ahern said complete renegotiation or the agreement of a truncated Treaty would mark a serious reverse for the EU. He said "cherry-picking" from the Constitution was unrealistic. "Everyone would want to pick different cherries," he said.

"Although there is no easy way forward, the right and realistic course is to return at the appropriate time to the substance of the Constitutional Treaty. We must seek to change the political context so that the Treaty can re-establish itself as the preferred, and indeed only realistic, formula for shaping Europe's future."

Mr Ahern told the Commission that Ireland had "quite literally been transformed by its membership of the European Union - economically, socially, politically and psychologically".

He said cohesion and structural funding came at a critical time in Ireland's attempts to refocus its economy.

"It is sometimes argued that achieving competitiveness threatens the achievements of the European social model. The Irish Government is very much in the camp of those who believe that competitiveness and social inclusion are partners, not rivals," he said.

He said a key factor in our success had been tailoring Government to the needs of society and the needs of the economy. But he warned that Ireland now faced new challenges.

"We are no longer a low-cost economy. We have increasing competitive challenges from other member states and from the newly emerging economies of Asia."

And Mr Ahern said there was a need to make sure EU member states had sufficient freedom to compete with each other on a "level palying field" and that there was sufficient cohesion for the EU to compete with these other trading blocs.

Mr Ahern also suggested a "more collaborative approach" to the enforcement of EU legislation "could be worth exploring".