The Nice Treaty has "some flaws" but it still represents a reasonable compromise in preparing for enlargement of the European Union, Dr Noel Dorr, former Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said in Galway last night.
Dr Dorr, who was Irish representative on the inter-governmental conference group which prepared the Nice Treaty in 2000, told a Galway Chamber of Commerce meeting that both sides in the current debate are broadly agreed on enlargement of the EU.
However, he noted that the No side argued that this could be done without Nice. It maintained that the necessary changes could be made through the treaties of accession - i.e. the treaties setting out the terms of membership which the EU is negotiating with the candidate countries.
Dr Dorr said there were difficulties with this approach. All other member-states believed the Nice Treaty changes were a "necessary preliminary" to enlargement. They also feared that if these changes were not made, the system as a whole would seize up when ten or more new member-states joined. They saw the treaty as a reasonable compromise - "a package deal which they would be most unwilling to unbundle now".
To drop the Nice Treaty and to add the re-allocation of votes in the European Council into these accession treaties would certainly unbundle Nice, in that it would pick out some parts and drop others, Dr Dorr said. The other smaller member-states would be most loathe to do this as they felt they had gained a victory at Nice on representation on the European Commission.
He said he also saw legal difficulties with the accession treaty route, which had been suggested as a means to achieve the enlargement of the EU without the Nice Treaty. The treaty not only dealt with the voting weights of new member-states, but also provided for changes in the voting weight of existing members.
If its terms were to be incorporated into the accession treaty this might be challenged in the European Court of Justice. Dr Dorr also said there was a domestic legal aspect to dropping Nice and relying on the accession treaties.
"What view would the Supreme Court take if the proposed procedure was challenged?" he asked.
Last night's meeting was also addressed by the former Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald, and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Eamon Ó Cuiv who spoke on reasons to vote Yes.
