Guarantees on Lisbon still under discussion

THE GOVERNMENT was not in a position to report “sufficient progress” to the Dáil on the guarantees sought from the EU on the Lisbon Treaty, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said.

Mr Cowen added that “when we know where we are going, and understand there will be support for what the texts state at that point, we will be in a position to have a meaningful discussion about it”.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny asked if the Government had finalised its strategy for dealing with matters of concern for people such as tax and ethical issues, sovereignty, the method for transposing directives into Irish law and the impact on different sectors.

“Has a strategy been agreed for dealing with those matters sequentially so that we do not have the confusion, allegations or indeed lies that accompanied those issues on the last occasion and the people are fully and properly informed on all of these matters?” Mr Kenny asked.

Mr Cowen said Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin was working to a comprehensive agenda, as was the EU committee.

The Government was working within a timeframe to have the matters dealt with at the June European Council, he added.

“I do not accept that all these matters have been finalised. It is a question of getting agreement from partner countries as well, which have to sign up to this.

“It is not just a matter of bringing it to the table on that day. The presidency, of course, has the task of gauging the support of other member states for the text we propose to put.”

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said there now appeared to be some ambiguity about the position of the current Czech government and how the remaining period of its presidency would be managed and who, precisely, would have responsibility within the government for the conduct of foreign affairs, including European matters.

Mr Cowen said that, as he understood it, the Czech government would continue in office until the EU presidency was over.

He understood that Mirek Topolanek would be allowed to continue in his role as caretaker prime minister until the EU presidency was concluded, and that the parliamentary vote of no-confidence in the Czech leader’s government would not, in any way, take away from his ability to conduct EU matters.