The president of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, has said any country which rejected Europe's new constitutional treaty might have to leave the European Union. In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr Prodi says that one member-state cannot be allowed to sink the treaty.
"I think it could be understandable that this should be the end result," Mr Prodi said. "Maybe you should have a long waiting period to allow us to find a political solution to solve the problem. We won't say, 'You voted No, now get out', but we have to find a solution that will not permit one country to stop all the other 24. It is clear. This is obvious. It's simply common sense."
Mr Prodi said it was not democratic for one country to prevent all the others from moving ahead with European integration and that states which consistently rejected change would effectively exclude themselves from the Union.
"I think that it's such an important decision that it cannot be taken immediately or simply, but certainly, you cannot ignore the fact that if a country says 'No, No, No, No', then it is a decision of the country to stay out. You don't even need to expel it," he said.
The Commission president said he was reasonably optimistic that next week's EU summit would agree a final text for the treaty.
He said it was crucial, however, that it should be possible to amend it without the approval of all member-states. He said that a four-fifths majority of EU member-states should be able to approve amendments.
"I understand the resistance but we must understand the consequences of these actions. A referendum is an important instrument but if we simply stop everything because of a problem in one country, we will come to a standstill."
He rejected the Government's argument in favour of retaining the national veto on all tax questions. The Government argues that taxation is fundamental to the relationship between citizens and national governments.
"Taxation is a national matter in all the fields that are under national discipline but in the fields that are under European discipline, you must have a European-level decision. In this case, it's not between citizens and member-states but between citizens and the proper authority. That is, in this case, the European Union," said Mr Prodi.
For the first time, he indicated he would welcome a second term as Commission president after his current period in office ends next year. He made clear, however, that he did not expect EU leaders to offer him the chance.
"I enjoy this job so much, especially in the last years, but I stick to reality and I don't have any illusion that this job will be offered to me."