Ireland may follow Britain and "opt out" of a key part of the EU constitution that pools sovereignty in judicial and police matters. But it remains implacably opposed to Poland's efforts to reopen talks on the type of voting system used for EU decision-making at a critical summit of EU leaders this week.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said yesterday that Ireland would weigh up the terms of any deal that Britain gets in relation to "opting out" of EU justice decisions before deciding what to do. However, he said he expected that any deal offered to Britain would also be available to Ireland due to our "similar legal systems". "If the British get an opt-out, we have to look at what practical implications there are for us. In our situation, defending our common law tradition without the support of the UK, who have a similar common law system . . . could leave us isolated," he said.
Ireland and Britain are fiercely protective of their common law legal system and fear that moves to harmonise judicial systems across the EU could undermine it. Both states, along with Malta and Cyprus, argue that their legal systems have fundamental differences from continental European systems.
For example, Ireland and Britain are blocking attempts to bring in a minimum set of rights for suspects and safeguards over personal information held by national police forces. If Ireland lost its national veto, it might not be able to prevent these measures from coming into force.
The issue is just one of several outstanding issues that the German EU presidency is struggling to sign off on before the European Council begins on Thursday. German chancellor Angela Merkel wants EU leaders to agree the outline of a new, "simplified treaty" that can be formally drafted at an intergovernmental conference later this year.
But she also faces tough battles over whether to amend the constitution to: give national parliaments the power to scrap commission proposals; give legal status to the charter of fundamental rights; and give a legal personality to the EU. She will also have face the issue of whether to reopen talks on changing the voting system at the Council of Ministers.
Poland remains opposed to the so-called "double majority" voting system in the constitution and says it will "die for" its rival square root system. The voting system goes to the heart of EU decision-making and the weight of a country's votes can determine its ability to block EU laws.
The last time EU leaders debated the issue, it took four days of bitter arguing at a summit in Nice to get a deal. EU diplomats predict a similar diplomatic face-off in Brussels.
Ireland is opposed to Poland's stance, said Mr Ahern, who warned that "if you start to pick at one of the issues you start to unravel the whole thing".
Yet the Government may follow Britain and ask for an opt-out in the justice area.
London has been lobbying Germany to retain an "opt-out" over justice decisions in a move to protect national sovereignty.
As well as fears over the future of the common law system, it does not want to give up sovereignty for fear that it will increase calls for a referendum on a new European treaty.
Mr Ahern acknowledged that the British position in the field of justice and police matters raised difficult and important questions for Ireland. "Our position is that we should be part of the wider agreed system within the EU, but at the same time our position in relation to decision-making could be weakened if we went with the British," Mr Ahern told The Irish Times. "We just have to weigh it up, really; it just depends on the precise terms of the deal that the British will be offered."
Another key difficulty for Dr Merkel is British and Dutch opposition to giving legal status to the charter of fundamental rights.
London fears this could confer new rights on workers to strike and would result in the European Court of Justice extending EU powers through decisions based on the charter. One possible compromise is giving Britain and The Netherlands an "opt-out", said the University of Limerick's Dr Patricia Conlan. But this could result in the "whole exercise unravelling", she warned.
With just three days to go until the summit, Dr Merkel admitted yesterday that there were still "serious problems to resolve".
The bald statement from the notoriously diplomatic German chancellor suggests that this week's European Council will be a long and difficult one.
There are already signs of frustration among German diplomats, who believe that Poland and the Czech Republic are not responding to Berlin's efforts at creating a spirit of compromise.
If the summit ends badly, Dr Merkel is unlikely to forgive the spoilers of her presidency. There could also be serious consequences for the EU, with some member states likely to propose moving ahead towards closer integration on their own. So EU leaders will have to fasten their seat belts, as they could be in for a bumpy rise in Brussels this week.