The Taoiseach said yesterday that the Government would be "happy enough" with proposals to restrict the voting rights of some European Commissioners in an expanded EU.
Stating that the issue had been dealt with in the Nice Treaty, Mr Ahern said he did not believe the development of a two-tier Commission would create difficulty for the Government in a referendum on any new treaty.
The Nice Treaty said that the size of the European Commission could be limited to 15 members as the EU expanded, with membership rotating on an equal basis between member-states.
With the Convention on the Future of Europe proposing a 30-member commission, in which 15 commissioners would have voting rights at any one time, Mr Ahern said this amounted to "Nice-plus".
"We're prepared to have strict rotation as long as there's equality between different members. That is something that we would have no difficulty with," he said.
Mr Ahern was speaking after a meeting yesterday morning with the Croatian Prime Minister, Mr Ivica Racan, who was on an official visit to mark the establishment of the Croatian embassy to Ireland. The embassy is at Adelaide Chambers, Peter Street, Dublin. His Excellency Nenad Prelog was accredited on Thursday as the country's ambassador to Ireland.
Mr Ahern said the Government welcomed Croatia's application to the Commission for EU membership.
Mr Racan said Croatian people supported the state's application to join the EU. The country was committed to the process of economic reform, which is required to secure membership.
