EU: The Taoiseach said yesterday EU leaders were "closing in" on agreement on a new constitutional treaty for the EU, and agreement was close on two of the three central areas of dispute.
Mr Ahern was speaking in Brussels after the opening session of a two-day summit heard predominately positive reactions from EU leaders to new compromise proposals from the Irish presidency.
He said that a proposal to reduce the European Commission to 18 members after 2014 was likely to be accepted, and there was broad support for raising the minimum number of MEPs elected in each state from four to six.
All delegations accept that the system of weighted votes in the Council of Ministers should be replaced by a "double majority" based on the number of member-states and a share of the EU's population, but the precise formula remains to be agreed.
"I think we are closing in on the agreement," he said.
Mr Ahern expressed confidence that the constitution, if agreed, will be ratified in all member-states, many of which plan to put it to a referendum.
He said that, unlike Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice, the constitution was not concerned primarily with technical issues but was a "people's" treaty.
"From the political point of view of selling the constitution and explaining it to the people, it will be far simpler," he said.
The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, and President Jacques Chirac of France welcomed the presidency's compromise proposals but suggested the formula on voting in the council should be changed to make agreement easier to achieve.
They rejected a proposal, aimed at satisfying Britain, which would write into the Charter of Fundamental Rights a reference to limitations on its scope agreed at the Convention on the Future of Europe.
Mr Schröder insisted that Germany would not budge in its resistance to a move to strengthen the Commission's authority to enforce the Stability and Growth Pact.
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Jan-Peter Balkenende, however, held firm in his demand that the Commission's hand should be strengthened.
Britain's Mr Tony Blair raised the issue of economic co-ordination within the EU, stressing it must be made clear that it is for member-states to determine such co-ordination and it could not be dictated by the Commission.
The presidency is expected to produce new drafts this morning, possibly including a formula for voting in the council and fresh compromise proposals on economic governance, which has become an unexpectedly difficult issue to resolve.
The leaders begin today's meeting with a 30-minute consultation with the president of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, followed by a discussion of economic issues, anti-terrorism measures and the EU's foreign policy agenda.
Negotiations on the constitutional treaty resume this afternoon and Irish officials are confident that a final text will be agreed before the day ends.
"A number of delegations have asked if they should book hotel rooms for their prime ministers for Friday night.
"I told them they should save money by not doing so," one senior official said this week.