European Union foreign ministers yesterday congratulated the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, on the Nice referendum result. But euphoria over the vote gave way quickly to anxiety that EU leaders will fail to agree on how to finance the admission of 10 new member-states when they meet in Brussels on Thursday.
Denmark, which holds the EU presidency, has threatened to keep the leaders in Brussels for as long as it takes to reach a deal. But Mr Cowen, who attended a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg yesterday, struck a cautious note about the summit's chances of success in dealing with the outstanding issues.
"I don't know whether they will be able to deal with them there and then on the day. But clearly we're going to have a much improved political momentum now and a better context in which to deal with these matters," he said.
Most member-states are ready to approve a financial package that includes the phased introduction of direct payments to farmers in the candidate countries. But Germany, Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands oppose extending direct payments to farmers in the prospective member-states. Germany is keen to link any deal to a commitment to reform the Common Agricultural Policy thoroughly, a position France, in particular, finds unacceptable.
Denmark's European Affairs Minister, Mr Bertel Haarder, echoed Mr Cowen's suggestion that Saturday's referendum result would make it easier to reach a deal.
"The Irish vote has removed one stone from the road and has increased expectations that other problems will be solved also. In this way, the Irish vote has given momentum to the whole process," he said.
The External Affairs Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, congratulated the pro-Nice campaign on the referendum's success and praised the work of the Forum on Europe in raising awareness of EU issues. Describing the forum as an exceptionally valuable example of citizen education, he suggested that Britain might learn from the Irish experience.
Mr Patten said that the EU had learnt an important lesson from Ireland's struggle with the Nice Treaty and warned that the European institutions must ensure that EU citizens understood that the EU was about their daily lives.
"It shouldn't turn into an exchange of acronyms between experts. It shouldn't be just debated between elites in expensive watering holes behind closed doors," he said.
Mr Cowen suggested that the referendum result had boosted Ireland's standing in the EU.
