Irish people could vote against the EU's Treaty of Nice in a referendum provisionally scheduled for May 31st, according to a report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
"A slim majority is expected... but as the Irish grow more sceptical of European integration, the outcome is by no means a foregone conclusion," the report prepared by the research unit of the international economics and political magazine said today.
"Among the EU's 15 member states, Ireland's voters will be alone in having a say on whether the latest changes to the EU's founding treaties, agreed at Nice in December, will come into force," the report noted.
In the last Irish referendum three years ago, 61.7 per cent voted in favour of further EU integration but support for EU membership is down by 5 percentage points since then according to the annual Eurobarometer poll, the EIU said.
In terms of further integration, the poll showed Irish people less enthusiastic than all others bar the Danes about "building Europe" more rapidly, the report added.
"Ireland is scheduled to go from being the largest beneficiary of EU funding to a net contributor within five years," the EIU noted.
AFP