EU: The European Commission has pledged its support for the St Andrews Agreement and invited a future First Minister and Deputy First Minister designate for talks in Brussels.
Commission president José Manuel Barroso extended the invitation yesterday following a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who expressed cautious optimism about the prospect of the Northern Ireland Executive working by next March.
At a three-hour meeting with Mr Barroso and the college of commissioners, Mr Ahern also outlined the Government's continued support for the EU constitution and warned against any attempt to "cherrypick" elements from the draft treaty.
"Everyone would want to pick different cherries . . . This finely balanced package, once unravelled, will be impossible to put together again," Mr Ahern warned Mr Barroso and the commissioners at their regular weekly meeting in Brussels.
Mr Ahern's comments follow statements from leaders in France and The Netherlands, who argue that it will be impossible to put the treaty to a public vote a second time. Both states rejected the draft constitution last year in referendums.
In his address to the commission, however, Mr Ahern warned that a complete renegotiation of the agreement or a new truncated treaty - as proposed by French presidential aspirant Nicolas Sarkozy - would mark a serious reverse for the EU. "If agreement could be reached on a different treaty, it would almost certainly represent a step back from the 2004 text," said Mr Ahern, who was instrumental in negotiating the EU constitution during Ireland's EU presidency in 2004.
Mr Ahern said there was no easy course to pursue but the "right and realistic course" was to return at the appropriate time to the substance of the constitutional treaty.
The commission is currently evaluating options on how to proceed with institutional reform, although no decision is expected until the middle of next year at the earliest.
In the intervening period, Mr Barroso is pursuing concrete policies in the economic and judicial sector to create a better context for the future agreement of a new treaty.
However, Mr Barroso admitted yesterday that a commission plan to persuade EU member states to give up their veto over justice matters looked likely to fail, in part because of opposition from the Republic. Mr Barroso said he did not now expect full success for his proposal on national vetoes at a meeting of EU leaders in December.
Mr Ahern welcomed Mr Barroso's support for the Northern Ireland peace process and his invitation to a First Minister and Deputy First Minister designate.