Taoiseach Bertie Ahern conceded that he strongly disagreed with British prime minister Tony Blair on the EU budget. "I will not fudge on that. I agree with Mr Blair on many issues and we get on very well but I disagree with him totally on this. He does not accept the position that the rebate should be changed and argues that any negotiations on the rebate should be effectively funded out of totally changing the Cap." Mr Ahern said Mr Blair was not seeking a modification of the Cap but a fundamental redraft of the entire budgetary position of the union.
"I told him on Wednesday that I did not believe we could do that by Friday night. It was not his stated position a month ago, and I do not believe it will be the position in six months' time."
Replying to a series of questions on last week's EU summit, Mr Ahern said he believed the British presentation of the Cap was "dishonest".
Mr Ahern was replying to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny who said the attack on the Cap by Mr Blair "was simply outrageous, and that, as the Cap has been radically reformed on a number of occasions in recent years, the Irish people who voted for an expansion of the EU did so on the basis of every other farmer having the opportunity to bring themselves up rather than being forced to endure a cutback which will cost Irish farmers dearly".
He urged Mr Ahern to use "what some of the media refer to as his much-vaunted special relationship with the British prime minister to contact him directly about the matter".
Britain, and particularly its prime minister, on the eve of the assumption to the EU presidency, should not have opened up something that was negotiated and overhauled already, said Mr Kenny.
Mr Kenny had asked Mr Ahern if he believed that Mr Blair's attack on the Cap put the EU in a very much weakened position as a group heading into the next round of the World Trade Organisation talks.
"Does this not considerably weaken the impact of Europe? Does the Taoiseach agree that it means countries such as China, and to a lesser extent India, and some personnel in the United States, will be more than anxious to see a fractured Europe, unable to agree on a budget, unable to agree on a constitution and very much heading in a backward and negative direction?"
Repeating that the referendum on the constitution would not take place this year, Mr Ahern said that a white paper would be published in September.
"I have made no decision about the Bill, but I will consult the Opposition parties before moving on that. It will certainly not be before the summer."
When Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) suggested that the constitution could not now secure the unanimous support of all EU states, and was, therefore, dead in the water, the Taoiseach insisted there was no possibility whatsoever of renegotiating the constitution.
Later, during a series of statements on the summit, Ruairí Quinn (Labour, Dublin South East) said the inference he drew from the Taoiseach's comments was that because Britain had such a vested interested in the budgetary process, it was difficult to see it in the role of honest broker and compromise-seeker.
"Therefore, we are faced with the prospect of the Austrian presidency having to sort out the budget at the beginning of next year,"said Mr Quinn.
