Former Taoiseach Mr John Bruton has called for the ending of the national veto on some criminal law matters at European level, rejecting the Minister for Justice's view that this would threaten Ireland's legal system.
Mr Bruton, who chaired the working group on the matter at the Convention on the Future of Europe, said yesterday that retention of national vetoes could block important measures on drug-trafficking, fraud and other issues.
The report of Mr Bruton's group was criticised this week by Mr McDowell, who said that it could remove Irish constitutional safeguards from the criminal justice system.
Mr McDowell objected in particular to proposals to give the EU competence in criminal law, initially relating to financial matters; to a European public prosecutor; and to the introduction of qualified majority voting - the ending of the national veto - in some criminal justice matters.
However, Mr Bruton said yesterday that majority voting did not result in states which put forward serious objections to proposals being ignored. "Where there is qualified majority voting, a vote is rarely taken. Everybody's point of view is taken into account. There is genuine negotiation to find a solution to problems of countries that may be in a minority," he said on the RTÉ News at One programme.
Mr Bruton said that a directive on drug-trafficking and the rights of citizens who get in trouble with the law in other member-states were being held up by just one state. Another directive on cross-border fraud had been substantially watered down due to objections from just one state.
"Under unanimity, you see meeting after meeting with people sitting on their hands, not negotiating, because at the end of the day they can just say 'no'. With 25 countries shortly to be in the EU, are we really happy with a situation where Irish people won't enjoy the protection, for example, of an EU common action against drug-trafficking or against child pornography over the Internet because just one country of the 25 says we don't agree?"