Fourteen EU leaders gathered in Spain are concerned most about illegal immigration. Another - Ireland - is worried about Nice and neutrality. Denis Staunton reports from Seville
In the scorching heat of Seville this afternoon, Bertie Ahern will celebrate what he hopes will mark a turning point in the campaign to ratify the Nice Treaty. Officials were yesterday still working out how best to present the Seville declaration on Irish neutrality, but there is no doubt that the Taoiseach will do his best to create a sense of occasion.
There will be two declarations - one by the Government reaffirming Ireland's policy of military neutrality and another from the 15 EU leaders confirming that the policy is consistent with the country's obligations under Nice and previous EU treaties.
The Government believes the declarations will resolve the neutrality debate, although Austrian officials who have seen the texts were quoted yesterday as dismissing them as a ploy to win the referendum.
"The Irish need something new for the referendum in the autumn - they can't keep voting on the same thing," one official told Die Presse.
Mr Ahern will be boosted in his attempt to focus the spotlight on the neutrality declarations by the fact that most other items on the agenda are already agreed. The Spanish Prime Minister, Mr José Maria Aznar, has contrived to postpone decisions on the most controversial issues, such as the extension of direct payments to farmers in an enlarged European Union.
For everyone except Ireland, the key issue in Seville is the fight against illegal immigration, which has become the burning political issue throughout Europe. The leaders will agree a range of measures, including better co-operation between border police in the 15 member-states and tougher controls to prevent immigrants entering the EU by sea. Most measures have already been agreed, but a number of member-states, led by France and Sweden, are opposing a threat to punish non-EU countries which fail to co-operate in Europe's battle against illegal immigration. The threat is twofold: to link future development aid to co-operation on immigration and to suspend trade agreements with unco-operative countries.
France and Sweden argue that it is unfair to punish poor countries for failing to police their borders or to repatriate their nationals who enter the EU illegally. Other member-states respond that agreements with third countries should involve responsibilities as well as economic benefits. And they point out that the Seville measures include offers of financial help to poor countries which attempt to stop human trafficking.
Ireland's position has been somewhere between the hard line adopted by Britain and Germany and the more compassionate approach of France and Sweden. But officials suggested this week that the Government was relaxed about dropping the threat of sanctions if such a move was necessary to reach agreement.
Despite the new measures, Seville is unlikely to move the EU much closer to a common policy on asylum and immigration. Individual member-states continue to create ever greater obstacles for asylum-seekers and the phenomenon of "asylum-shopping" shows no sign of disappearing.
Reforming the EU is one of the few issues likely to provoke real disagreement between the leaders when they consider a report by Javier Solana, in his role as secretary-general of the Council of Ministers. Mr Solana suggests that the council, where ministers frommember-states make important final decisions, should be streamlined and should conduct much of its business in public.
Foreign ministers yelped with outrage at the suggestion that their General Affairs Council should be split, with some responsibilities possibly transferred to European Affairs ministers. The reforms will probably be agreed, but the Government will watch closely the terms agreed for future reform of the EU's six-month rotating presidency.
Ireland, along with other small member-states, is suspicious of a proposal to create a super-presidency lasting up to five years, with a president of the council chosen by the heads of government. No change to the rotating presidency is possible, however, without a new treaty, and the issue will be discussed in the Convention on the Future of Europe.
Denis Staunton is Europe Correspondent of The Irish Times