Brian Cowen's "vision of Europe", delivered in a speech last night, isupbeat but short on detail, writes Denis Staunton, European correspondent.
Last night's speech by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, comes at a crucial moment in the debate on Europe's future. Later this month, the European Convention will start discussing the text of a constitutional treaty for the EU and will begin to tackle the most controversial elements of any major reform of the European institutions.
France and Germany this week agreed a joint position on how to appoint the Commission President and on the creation of a new position of President of the European Council. Denmark's Prime Minister, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, yesterday gave a detailed exposition of his government's approach to institutional change, signalling some significant shifts in Danish policy.
Mr Cowen last night adopted a new, positive tone in talking about the Convention, although he gave no indication that he is planning to take part in it as the Government's representative.
He said that the Government would be open, imaginative and flexible in the final negotiations about a new treaty.
"In driving forward the agenda for change, and in preparing the EU for the new challenges of this century, the Irish Government will be there, playing a positive, engaged and active part in shaping our shared future together. The Irish people deserve and expect no less," he said.
He warned against taking too defensive an approach to change and dismissed fears that the Convention would lead to the creation of a federal superstate.
"Our basic interests and values are widely shared and are not threatened. All of us in the Union should accept that we have a common interest in creating the most democratic, the most efficient, the most effective Union together. Yes, that means substantial change. But, far from fearing change, we should welcome it. Ireland will not be selfish or negative," he said.
Despite the Minister's change of tone, his speech suggests that the Government's thinking is lagging behind the pace of events at the Convention. While other governments, including those of France, Germany, Britain, the Benelux countries and Denmark, have already elaborated detailed positions in preparation for the Convention's final phase, Mr Cowen is far from making up his mind about the big issues.
Mr Cowen "remains to be convinced" of the merits of appointing a President of the European Council but he makes no alternative proposal for improving the way the Council works, saying only that he will be happy to explore other suggestions. He favours "a strengthening and underpinning of each side of the institutional triangle - the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament" but does not explain how this should be achieved, promising only that the Government will be "imaginative and creative".
Although the Minister welcomes the replacement of the EU's present collection of treaties with a new, more coherent treaty, he is not sure if it should be called a constitutional treaty. Mr Cowen supports the extension of qualified majority voting to more policy areas but not to taxation issues or to many areas of justice and home affairs and foreign policy.
The Government has made some interesting proposals at the Convention, including a suggestion - which was endorsed by the Danish Prime Minister yesterday - that the Commission President should be chosen by an electoral college composed of national parliamentarians and members of the European Parliament. And Mr Cowen last night gave enthusiastic backing to a proposal to extend the "Peterberg tasks" for which the EU's Rapid Reaction Force could be deployed.
The Minister has finally acknowledged that the Convention is an "extremely important way of doing business in Europe". But on the basis of last night's speech, the Government has a long way to go before it catches up with the political reality emerging at the Convention.
THIS week's Franco-German initiative was a prelude to a more far-reaching agreement between Berlin and Paris to be announced next week. The renewed strength of the Franco-German relationship means that any proposal backed by Paris and Berlin would carry enormous influence at the Convention.
Thus, although Mr Rasmussen has long opposed the appointment of a President of the Council, he acknowledged implicitly in his speech yesterday that it is an idea that may have become unstoppable.
He now proposes that, if a President of the Council is to be appointed, a system should be devised that would ensure that the post is rotated every few years between large, medium and small states.
Many member-states, including France and Germany, are now represented at the Convention by their foreign ministers, a fact that binds their governments more closely into the process.
The Government's representative, Mr Dick Roche, has worked hard to forge a network of alliances at the Convention and to present the Government's views in a positive tone.
But Mr Cowen's decision not to join the Convention raises the suspicion that he wishes to remain apart from its decisions, hoping that the Government can undo much of its work later in the Inter-Governmental Conference.
In alliance with Britain, the Government will almost certainly succeed in retaining the national veto on tax issues.
But if the Government is to play a full role in shaping the new Europe that will emerge after the Convention, it must move swiftly to put the flesh of policy on the elegant bones of Mr Cowen's rhetoric.