THE GOVERNMENT remains confident it can get agreement today on the Irish legal guarantees to the Lisbon Treaty, despite British objections which caused the postponement of a decision yesterday.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said the difficulties between “ourselves and the British” were being brokered by the Czech presidency and he hoped for an agreement this morning.
The issue that prevented agreement yesterday was a British objection to the Irish proposal to attach the legal guarantees as a protocol to the next EU treaty.
“The exercise here is a serious one. We are asking people to sign up to something that may have domestic implications for some of them with their own electorates,” said Mr Martin.
British sources signalled last night that a deal enabling Ireland to attach a protocol to a future accession treaty for Croatia was likely to be agreed today. “We got our own protocols attached to Lisbon offering us guarantees and now we want to be as helpful as possible to Ireland. Our main goal is to get Lisbon into force,” the source said.
Several other states, including the Netherlands and Slovenia, have also expressed concerns about offering Ireland a protocol, but they are also expected to back a deal.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen sent a letter to all other 26 EU leaders before the European Council appealing to them to accept that the Irish legal guarantees should be incorporated into a protocol.
“The sole purpose of this protocol will be to give treaty force to the clarifications contained in the decision, which are entirely in conformity with the treaties. I want to emphasise sincerely that this is necessary if I am to call, and win, a second referendum,” said Mr Cowen.
The letter which began: “I am writing to you in strictest confidence” was leaked to the media, apparently by British sources, as it was the copy in circulation that was sent to prime minister Gordon Brown.
In the letter Mr Cowen expressed his appreciation for the constructive engagement of all the other leaders in shaping the text of the guarantees but he stressed that their precise legal form was crucial.
“In order to provide the maximum possible legal reassurance to the Irish people, I need to be able to come out of our meeting and state, without fear of contradiction, that the legal guarantees contained in the decision will, in time, acquire full treaty status by way of a protocol,” he said. Mr Cowen accepted that many member states had made it clear they could not countenance reopening the Lisbon Treaty ratification process.
“However, what I do require is a clear and unequivocal commitment that, at a future point after the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, the legal guarantees contained in the decision will be attached to the EU treaties by way of a protocol.”
The Taoiseach added that last December president Nicolas Sarkozy had given a specific commitment as president of the European Council that the Irish legal guarantees would be given protocol status.
“The media debate in Ireland is already focused on the form of the legal guarantees and you will appreciate the strong political imperative that I confirm at tomorrow’s meeting the public understanding in Ireland of what was agreed last December.”
The main stumbling block in the way of agreement on a protocol is British prime minister Mr Brown, who is concerned it could reopen the treaty debate in parliament.
Going into the summit yesterday he said he wanted “do the right thing by Ireland and by Europe”.
However, he added: “I want to ensure that the Lisbon Treaty as it affected Britain will not be changed in any way.” The Irish side appreciates the reasons for British concern about the protocol but there is also a suspicion that the issue may be used as a bargaining chip in an ongoing tussle between the UK and other EU states over the plans for tighter financial regulation at EU level.
The Taoiseach had a meeting with Mr Brown early yesterday to try to allay British concerns. Last night officials from both sides were working to try to find a formula to minimise the problem for the British, while still having the effect of attaching the guarantees to the next treaty in the form of a protocol.