The Taoiseach has rejected "fashionable Europessimism", insisting the EU will return to its troubled constitution when it seeks to deal with the difficulties it faces.
The Government yesterday published its White Paper on Europe, with the Taoiseach promising continued "national debate" on Europe. There remains no prospect of a referendum on the constitution in the lifetime of this Dáil, a point confirmed by Bertie Ahern on Wednesday.
In the Seanad yesterday he said there was a sense of disconnection between the people of Europe and the EU. This was highlighted by the French and Dutch No votes in ballots on the constitution.
The ratification process remains on hold in every member state until it is clear whether there is any prospect of a change of position in France and the Netherlands. This is not expected until after the 2007 French presidential election.
The White Paper, whose planned publication last June was put off because of the uncertainty following the French and Dutch votes, gives a factual explanation of the EU constitution, together with an account of the position Ireland took on various points. It is a largely uncontentious document which the Taoiseach said "is an important contribution to our national debate on Europe".
"It explains in clear and accessible language what the EU constitution is about and why it is important for Ireland and Europe. The White Paper also stands, on its merits, as an important statement of the Government's policy on the EU, on how the enlarged EU can best work effectively in the interest of all and, most important, on the common values that all EU member states share.
"In publishing the White Paper, we are also affirming the Government's view that the EU constitution is a good document that we would like to see implemented". He said the Government and the National Forum for Europe would promote the national debate on Europe and there would be a full debate in the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Mr Ahern said the EU was going through a period of uncertainty. "The rejection of the draft EU constitution in the French and Dutch referenda marked a setback for the process of European integration. This was compounded by the failure in June of the European Council to agree on the future financial perspectives of the EU.
"Neither is Europe doing well on the economic front. The core European economies are battling high unemployment, rising public sector deficits and social systems faced with funding the needs of ageing populations. In addition, across the EU there are difficult national debates about how best to integrate immigrants into society and about the geographical limits of Europe. Externally, the EU faces an ever increasing competitive challenge from the rising, low cost and highly productive economies of Asia, particularly China and India, and from the huge agricultural producers of Brazil, Argentina, Australia and the US." But he nevertheless rejected the bleak view of Europe's prospects.
"Europe is a stunning success on a political level and is hugely underestimated on an economic level. Fashionable Europessimism is dangerous. It only serves the interests of those who want to weaken the EU. Such weakening carries the risk of returning Europe to an earlier age of competing, loosely linked nation states. That Europe was one where the mightiest pursued exclusively national agendas at the expense of the small and the weak in the short term and the entire Continent in the longer term."
The director of the European Commission office in Ireland has predicted that Sinn Féin will come around to supporting the European project after a period of engagement with the EU.
Martin Territt said yesterday that since the party now had MEPs North and South it was already in "constructive engagement" with the EU. He predicted a shift in Sinn Féin attitude on the basis that Ireland's economic success was founded to a large extent on EU membership.