Courtesy calls may be a common feature of international politics and diplomacy, but the visit of the Belgian's Prime Minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt, to the Taoiseach yesterday was emphatically about business, writes Deaglán de Bréadún
The initiative for a new European constitution came during Belgium's last stint in the European presidency, and Mr Verhofstadt makes no secret of his eagerness not just to keep the flame alive but to ensure that agreement is reached by the end of this year if possible.
"We agreed, just after the failure of the Brussels summit, to have a meeting together," he says. "For us it is very important that such a European constitution can be approved by the whole European Council."
The Belgians prepared a set of proposals for the recent summit which were never discussed "for the simple reason that we never started a real negotiation".
Mr Verhofstadt presented these privately to the Taoiseach yesterday, which may explain the contented smile on Mr Ahern's face after their meeting: Bertie loves to deal.
"There are three important issues still remaining," says the Belgian leader.
"The first is the size of the Commission, but I think it is easy to find a solution for that." He smiles. "If you have a problem with the size of an institution, it becomes bigger and bigger - and then you find a solution!"
The second problem is the number of areas covered by qualified majority voting, where he believes the Italian presidency muddied the waters. "We need to clarify that, and to go back to the highest possible degree of QMV."
The most difficult problem is, of course, the stand-off between Paris and Berlin on the one hand and Warsaw and Madrid on the other over voting procedures, and the appropriate weight that should be given to population.
Had he detected any movement in these capitals? "It is too early to say that, but there are certainly a number of possibilities. We never started a real negotiation last month in Brussels, so a number of possible solutions are still there and are quite possible."
These would have to be explored in the coming months.
The prospect of a two-speed Europe in the event of failure to reach agreement has been evoked by the Commission president, Mr Romano Prodi. Mr Verhofstadt sees this as "the second-best choice", and would prefer if heads of government could agree on the constitution.
"It is only if this should be a failure at the end of 2004 that we can talk about the use of enhanced co-operation to push European integration. Now we have to concentrate on the efforts of the Irish presidency to find a breakthrough."
Did he realise that kind of talk frightened Irish people?
"That's the reason why I am saying we have, first of all, to do our work in 2004 on the European constitution, and not to start now on the need to have a two-speed Europe."
Meanwhile, as a country heavily dependent on exports, Belgium would be concerned if the euro's strength against the dollar continued and the gap widened further. He believes that in such an event the European Central Bank should consider intervening.
Mr Verhofstadt is 50, but would pass for younger. There will be a vacancy for president of the European Commission at the end of the Irish presidency but, when asked if he would like the position, he replies simply: "I already have a job."