European leaders are in listening mode on Ireland's attitudes to the continent's future, with the President of the Commission and the Council of the Central Bank in Dublin today. They will hear an increasingly lively political debate - and an increasingly disjointed policy line from the Government. Yesterday, saw more evidence of open ministerial disagreement within both coalition parties on attitudes to the Treaty of Nice and the future of Europe. Irish citizens and our EU partners alike deserve to hear a much more coherent and disciplined approach from the Cabinet and the Taoiseach. Unless that is rapidly put in place, Ireland's basic interests could be affected by the policy drift so much on display in recent days. The Government daily assures its EU partners that Ireland is still firmly behind enlargement and that rejection of the Nice Treaty was not a vote against it. The Government also accepts the political argument that enlargement can go ahead only through the treaty. It must win endorsement for it alongside a much wider debate about the future of European integration - just as it prepares for general elections within the next year. Those tasks would tax the capacity of any administration; but they become impossible if such policy disagreements are allowed to persist. That way lies certain loss of credibility with voters and EU partners alike. It would be good to hear a strong pro-European statement from the Taoiseach to assert control after the disarray.
Mr Prodi gives a robust defence of his views and role in an interview with this newspaper today. He rejects suggestions that recent speeches on Europe's future may have affected the No vote on Nice. Whatever their views on this subject, people will have to recognise that this is an urgent and necessary debate, on which we will hear more from Mr Prodi when he speaks in University College, Cork tomorrow. His view that enlargement could go ahead legally, even without ratification of the Nice Treaty, will intrigue No campaigners and may make them more willing to listen to his wider political arguments when they meet him today. It should be borne in mind that he and the Commission were essentially marginal in the treaty negotiations, not even having a vote. Mr Prodi has often criticised the treaty for being too inter-governmental, making the EU political process more opaque and less democratically accessible. Treaties are negotiated by the member-states and their governments. It is they who have a sense of ownership in the Nice Treaty and it is they who have insisted that enlargement cannot go ahead except on its terms. That is a solid political reality for the Government - and for the candidate states it has been at pains to reassure - irrespective of the legal niceties.
Ireland has benefitted hugely from a generation of full involvement in the European integration experience. That framework and those disciplines have enabled this state to diversify and develop its economy, society and international involvement. The deepening debate on Ireland's future position and interests in Europe - within and between all political parties - is welcome and appropriate at a time when circumstances are rapidly changing. But the preservation of those interests, and the healthy conduct of the debate, demand a greater sense of unity and leadership from the Government.