EU SUMMIT: EU leaders have agreed the terms under which an inter-governmental conference (IGC) will complete the task of drawing up a European constitution. Denis Staunton in Porto Carras reports.
The IGC will begin in October, when Italy holds the EU presidency, but may continue into the Irish presidency, beginning next January.
The Taoiseach has failed, however, to persuade other EU leaders to come to Dublin for a ceremony to sign the constitutional treaty, probably next May.
Instead, each member-state will hold a separate signing ceremony, starting in Dublin and ending in Rome, where the treaty will be deposited, like all other EU treaties, with the Italian government.
"There's a great attraction for the final gathering being in Rome. I've been around all year talking to colleagues and there's no doubt about that. I've certainly no problem with that. The historical connection with Rome is a good thing," Mr Ahern said.
Italy has insisted from the start of the convention's work that the final ceremony marking the constitutional treaty's signing should be held in Rome. The Government has maintained that if the IGC ended during the Irish presidency, the signing ceremony should take place in Ireland.
The Taoiseach denied yesterday that he had given in to pressure from Rome and argued that his idea of successive ceremonies would boost popular acceptance of the constitution across Europe.
"The benefit of all that is that it generates public attention for the constitutional treaty, it allows an opportunity for the people and representative institutions in all member-states to assume ownership of the document. It would be particularly significant, I think, for countries where there are votes in referendums," he said.
The Taoiseach was speaking after the president of the Convention on Europe, Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, presented the draft constitution to EU leaders at their summit in the Greek resort of Porto Carras.
Mr Giscard told the leaders that the constitution would significantly improve the European system by producing a clear definition of the allocation of powers, creating a mechanism to ensure that there was no unintentional slippage of power away from member-states, and simplifying the EU's legal instruments.
But he cast doubt on the deal to allow each country to nominate a commissioner, with only 15 having voting rights. The constitution foresees the voting rights rotating between member-states on the basis of equality, but Mr Giscard suggested that equal rotation could undermine the Commission.
The Taoiseach said that, although all leaders welcomed the draft constitution, a number signalled reservations about some elements. He said the Government would oppose any attempt to remove the requirement for unanimity on tax issues and was concerned about some changes in the areas of justice and home affairs. "We have no difficulty with co-operation. But in the criminal law matters, we have a different legal system, a different legal base, a different constitution," he said.