EU treaty designed to avoid vote - German minister

GERMANY’S MINISTER for European Affairs has confirmed that European Union negotiators sought to design the euro zone fiscal compact in such a way to avoid a referendum in Ireland.

Michael Link, who was visiting Dublin yesterday for talks with Ministers, officials and members of the Oireachtas, added that Ireland’s constitutional requirements will also help to determine the drafting, at next week’s EU summit, of rules governing the role of the European Court of Justice in enforcing the new pact.

"As you know, concerning the next European Council, there are still ongoing negotiations concerning the role of the European Court of Justice. Also there, we are trying to design everything that is on the table in a way which would be okay in the eyes of the Attorney General and the Irish Constitution so that no referendum is needed," he told The Irish Times.

Officials in Brussels are negotiating the terms of a legal mandate under which the European Court of Justice will act as a court of appeal to monitor how member states transpose the new debt rules into national law.

“The situation is that many people in Ireland, as far as I understand, are afraid that the compact would affect the Irish Constitution. We have tried everything to make clear that the compact is in line with the Irish Constitution and therefore of course we want, if possible, to have Ireland as an important member of the euro zone, also as part of the fiscal compact,” he said.

When asked if the fiscal compact agreed in Brussels last month had been designed in such a way that it would not need a referendum in Ireland, Mr Link replied: “Exactly”.

The German minister’s comments appear to contradict the Taoiseach’s denial in the Dáil this month of a report in this newspaper that parts of the pact were explicitly drafted to give the Government a chance to avoid a referendum.

Mr Link warned an early request for a deal on the payment of the Anglo Irish/Nationwide promissory notes was likely to be met with scepticism. “I think it’s very important that Ireland gives on the international scene every signal that Ireland is on track with what has been agreed to.